WEC Energy Group, Inc. (WEC) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.84 on December 1st

WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, October 17th,RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 14th will be given a dividend of 0.835 per share by the utilities provider on Sunday, December 1st. This represents a $3.34 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 14th.

WEC Energy Group has increased its dividend payment by an average of 7.2% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 22 consecutive years. WEC Energy Group has a dividend payout ratio of 64.0% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect WEC Energy Group to earn $5.22 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.34 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 64.0%.

WEC Energy Group Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE WEC opened at $98.69 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $95.87 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $87.80. The stock has a market cap of $31.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.44. WEC Energy Group has a 52-week low of $75.13 and a 52-week high of $100.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 0.65.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.12. WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 11.72% and a net margin of 15.14%. The business had revenue of $1.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.93 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.00 earnings per share. WEC Energy Group’s quarterly revenue was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that WEC Energy Group will post 4.87 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP William J. Guc sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.99, for a total value of $557,940.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 7,702 shares in the company, valued at approximately $716,208.98. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other WEC Energy Group news, VP Mary Beth Straka sold 3,240 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.04, for a total transaction of $301,449.60. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 3,662 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $340,712.48. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP William J. Guc sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.99, for a total value of $557,940.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 7,702 shares in the company, valued at approximately $716,208.98. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $90.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $86.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. StockNews.com upgraded WEC Energy Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on WEC Energy Group from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Three 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $94.45.

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.