WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) Hits New 52-Week High – Time to Buy?

WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $114.36 and last traded at $114.16, with a volume of 2120849 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $112.85.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on WEC shares. UBS Group set a $107.00 price objective on WEC Energy Group and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered WEC Energy Group from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $106.00 to $100.00 in a report on Wednesday, June 25th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered WEC Energy Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, July 12th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $106.89.

WEC Energy Group Stock Up 1.2%

The firm has a 50 day moving average of $109.07 and a two-hundred day moving average of $107.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.71 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $2.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.87 billion. WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 12.90% and a net margin of 17.87%.WEC Energy Group’s revenue was up 13.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.67 earnings per share. WEC Energy Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.170-5.270 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, August 14th were paid a $0.8925 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 14th. This represents a $3.57 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 68.39%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Molly A. Mulroy sold 4,030 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.33, for a total value of $444,629.90. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 5,829 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $643,113.57. This trade represents a 40.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 5,960 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.98, for a total value of $661,440.80. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 274,969 shares in the company, valued at $30,516,059.62. This trade represents a 2.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 68,448 shares of company stock valued at $7,581,132 over the last ninety days. 0.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On WEC Energy Group

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Horizon Investment Services LLC bought a new position in WEC Energy Group in the first quarter valued at about $379,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC raised its position in WEC Energy Group by 2,964.9% in the first quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 108,651 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $11,841,000 after purchasing an additional 105,106 shares during the last quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd bought a new position in WEC Energy Group in the first quarter valued at about $10,333,000. Sowell Financial Services LLC bought a new position in WEC Energy Group in the first quarter valued at about $325,000. Finally, CWA Asset Management Group LLC raised its position in WEC Energy Group by 5.6% in the first quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 2,947 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $321,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares during the last quarter. 77.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

WEC Energy Group Company Profile

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.