WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) Coverage Initiated at Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) in a research report released on Thursday, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage issued a hold rating and a $102.00 price objective on the utilities provider’s stock.

WEC has been the topic of several other research reports. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $90.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a sector outperform rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. StockNews.com lowered shares of WEC Energy Group from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $80.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an underweight rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. BMO Capital Markets upped 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 note on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on WEC Energy Group from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an underperform rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Four 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, WEC Energy Group has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $91.31.

WEC Energy Group Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:WEC opened at $94.72 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $89.76 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $83.95. The company has a market capitalization of $29.91 billion, a PE ratio of 20.68, a PEG ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.44. WEC Energy Group has a 52 week low of $75.13 and a 52 week high of $96.65. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $1.77 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.87 billion. WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 12.26% and a net margin of 15.85%. The firm’s revenue was down 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.92 EPS. Analysts forecast that WEC Energy Group will post 4.88 earnings per share for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 14th. This represents a $3.34 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.53%. WEC Energy Group’s payout ratio is presently 72.93%.

Insider Buying and Selling at WEC Energy Group

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT boosted its position in WEC Energy Group by 2.0% during the second quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT now owns 6,047 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $474,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the period. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 58.1% during the 2nd quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 321 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 118 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co grew its stake in WEC Energy Group by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 5,099 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $419,000 after buying an additional 134 shares during the last quarter. MPS Loria Financial Planners LLC raised its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. MPS Loria Financial Planners LLC now owns 6,704 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $551,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares during the period. Finally, FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in WEC Energy Group by 52.6% during the first quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 412 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. 77.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.