WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) PT Raised to $106.00

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC - Free Report) had its target price boosted by Wells Fargo & Company from $103.00 to $106.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the utilities provider's stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on WEC. KeyCorp upped their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $98.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on WEC Energy Group in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They set a "hold" rating and a $102.00 price objective for the company. Scotiabank boosted their target price 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. Barclays increased their price target on WEC Energy Group from $86.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Bank of America boosted 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 note on Thursday, August 29th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, WEC Energy Group presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $94.00.

WEC Energy Group Stock Performance

NYSE WEC traded up $1.53 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $98.75. The company had a trading volume of 2,533,398 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,155,667. The business has a 50 day moving average of $93.53 and a 200-day moving average of $85.70. The company has a market cap of $31.21 billion, a PE ratio of 22.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.44. WEC Energy Group has a 1-year low of $75.13 and a 1-year high of $98.93. 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 - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.04. The firm 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 quarterly revenue was down 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.92 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that WEC Energy Group will post 4.87 EPS for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 14th were paid a dividend of $0.835 per share. This represents a $3.34 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.38%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 14th. WEC Energy Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 77.14%.

Insider Activity at WEC Energy Group

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 transaction, the vice president now owns 1,462 shares of the company's stock, valued at $129,796.36. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other WEC Energy Group news, Director Ulice Payne, Jr. sold 750 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.45, for a total transaction of $66,337.50. Following the sale, the director now owns 21,876 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,934,932.20. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Anthony Reese sold 1,362 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.78, for a total value of $120,918.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 1,462 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $129,796.36. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 11,702 shares of company stock valued at $1,078,058 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.44% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of WEC Energy Group

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in WEC Energy Group by 36.7% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,566,001 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $201,328,000 after acquiring an additional 688,812 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC grew its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 36.0% in the first quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,748,141 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $143,557,000 after purchasing an additional 462,646 shares during the period. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group in the first quarter valued at $23,297,000. AMF Tjanstepension AB acquired a new position in WEC Energy Group in the second quarter valued at $20,431,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in WEC Energy Group by 2,949.7% during the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 232,018 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $18,204,000 after buying an additional 224,410 shares during the period. 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.