Brokerages Set WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) Target Price at $104.38

Shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) have received an average rating of “Hold” from the eight ratings firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $104.38.

WEC has been the topic of a number of research reports. Barclays upgraded WEC Energy Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $89.00 to $93.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on WEC Energy Group from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $112.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. StockNews.com raised shares of WEC Energy Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of WEC Energy Group from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $106.00 to $108.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th.

Insider Buying and Selling at WEC Energy Group

In other news, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.62, for a total transaction of $2,715,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 274,955 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,865,612.10. This trade represents a 8.33 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Ulice Payne, Jr. sold 1,150 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.17, for a total transaction of $119,795.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 21,951 shares in the company, valued at $2,286,635.67. This represents a 4.98 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of WEC Energy Group

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WEC. Clarius Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group during the 1st quarter valued at $443,000. NBT Bank N A NY boosted its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 1,004.4% in the 1st quarter. NBT Bank N A NY now owns 994 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $108,000 after purchasing an additional 904 shares during the period. Stephens Consulting LLC increased its stake in WEC Energy Group by 138.6% in the 1st quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 544 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $59,000 after purchasing an additional 316 shares in the last quarter. Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 31.8% during the 1st quarter. Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,993 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $435,000 after buying an additional 964 shares during the period. Finally, Precedent Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in WEC Energy Group during the first quarter valued at about $743,000. 77.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

WEC Energy Group Stock Performance

Shares of WEC opened at $108.22 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 0.60 and a quick ratio of 0.43. WEC Energy Group has a 12-month low of $77.47 and a 12-month high of $111.00. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $105.86 and its 200 day moving average price is $100.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $34.53 billion, a PE ratio of 22.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.44.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.49 by ($0.06). The business had revenue of $2.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.50 billion. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 17.75% and a return on equity of 12.39%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.10 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that WEC Energy Group will post 5.23 EPS for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.8975 per share. This represents a $3.59 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.32%. This is a positive change from WEC Energy Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 73.91%.

About WEC Energy Group

WEC Energy Group, Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides regulated natural gas and electricity, and renewable and nonregulated renewable energy services in the United States. It operates through Wisconsin, Illinois, Other States, Electric Transmission, and Non-Utility Energy Infrastructure segments.