Equities Analysts Offer Predictions for WEC FY2024 Earnings

WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC - Free Report) - Research analysts at Scotiabank reduced their FY2024 EPS estimates for shares of WEC Energy Group in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, January 8th. Scotiabank analyst A. Weisel now anticipates that the utilities provider will post earnings per share of $4.87 for the year, down from their prior estimate of $4.90. Scotiabank has a "Sector Outperform" rating and a $110.00 price objective on the stock. The consensus estimate for WEC Energy Group's current full-year earnings is $4.89 per share. Scotiabank also issued estimates for WEC Energy Group's FY2026 earnings at $5.59 EPS.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on WEC. StockNews.com upgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America upgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $90.00 to $98.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of WEC Energy Group in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $102.00 target price on the stock. Barclays upgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $89.00 to $93.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $98.40.

WEC Energy Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WEC traded down $1.32 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $93.43. 2,397,728 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,818,221. WEC Energy Group has a one year low of $75.13 and a one year high of $102.79. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $96.61 and a 200 day moving average of $92.42. The company has a market cap of $29.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.84, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.48. 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 - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.12. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 15.14% and a return on equity of 11.72%. The company had revenue of $1.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.93 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.00 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis.

WEC Energy Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.8925 per share. This represents a $3.57 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This is a positive change from WEC Energy Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. WEC Energy Group's payout ratio is currently 87.29%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 6,720 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.89, for a total value of $677,980.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 45,709 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,611,581.01. This represents a 12.82 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 40,269 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.56, for a total value of $4,009,181.64. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 273,248 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,204,570.88. This represents a 12.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 48,794 shares of company stock worth $4,866,579 over the last quarter. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of WEC Energy Group

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Coastline Trust Co bought a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. bought a new position in WEC Energy Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new position in WEC Energy Group during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in WEC Energy Group during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Finally, Friedenthal Financial bought a new stake in WEC Energy Group in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $50,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.20% of the company's stock.

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.