WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) Hits New 1-Year High at $95.53

WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $95.53 and last traded at $95.50, with a volume of 33811 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $94.86.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on WEC. StockNews.com downgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $80.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. KeyCorp lowered their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $96.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $90.17.

WEC Energy Group Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $87.45 and its 200 day simple moving average is $83.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.79, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.44.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $1.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.87 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.92 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 14th were given a dividend of $0.835 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 14th. This represents a $3.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.51%. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 72.93%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Anthony Reese sold 1,362 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.78, for a total transaction of $120,918.36. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 1,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $129,796.36. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, VP Anthony Reese sold 1,362 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.78, for a total transaction of $120,918.36. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 1,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $129,796.36. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Mary Beth Straka sold 3,240 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.04, for a total value of $301,449.60. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 3,662 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $340,712.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 11,702 shares of company stock valued at $1,078,058 over the last ninety days. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of WEC. Northwest Bank & Trust Co acquired a new position in WEC Energy Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in WEC Energy Group in the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. raised its stake in 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 in the last quarter. Olistico Wealth LLC acquired a new position in WEC Energy Group in the second quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, First United Bank & Trust acquired a new position in WEC Energy Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

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.