WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) Sets New 52-Week High After Analyst Upgrade

WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) shares reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday after KeyCorp raised their price target on the stock from $98.00 to $103.00. KeyCorp currently has an overweight rating on the stock. WEC Energy Group traded as high as $96.94 and last traded at $96.85, with a volume of 539884 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $96.18.

WEC has been the topic of a number of other research reports. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on WEC Energy Group from $90.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. StockNews.com cut WEC Energy Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on WEC Energy Group in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $102.00 price objective for the company. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $91.69.

Insider Buying and Selling at WEC Energy Group

In other news, Director Ulice Payne, Jr. sold 750 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.45, for a total transaction of $66,337.50. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 21,876 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,934,932.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, VP Joshua M. Erickson sold 350 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.75, for a total transaction of $31,412.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 2,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $213,335.75. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Ulice Payne, Jr. sold 750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.45, for a total value of $66,337.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 21,876 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,934,932.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 11,702 shares of company stock worth $1,078,058. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of WEC. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in WEC Energy Group during the first quarter worth about $25,000. Northwest Bank & Trust Co acquired a new position in WEC Energy Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 58.1% in the second quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 321 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. Olistico Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group during the second quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, YHB Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group during the first quarter worth approximately $32,000. 77.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

WEC Energy Group Stock Performance

The company has a fifty day moving average of $91.95 and a two-hundred day moving average of $84.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.02, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.74.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.04. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 15.85% and a return on equity of 12.26%. The company had revenue of $1.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.87 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.92 earnings per share. WEC Energy Group’s quarterly revenue was down 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 14th were issued a dividend of $0.835 per share. This represents a $3.34 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 14th. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 72.93%.

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.