Shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC - Get Free Report) have been given a consensus recommendation of "Hold" by the eleven brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have given a hold recommendation and four have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $95.55.
A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on WEC shares. Barclays lifted their target price on WEC Energy Group from $86.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $108.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday. Scotiabank increased 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 report on Tuesday, August 20th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $97.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded WEC Energy Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st.
Read Our Latest Research Report on WEC
WEC Energy Group Stock Performance
WEC traded down $0.63 on Friday, reaching $97.09. The company had a trading volume of 1,468,642 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,653,969. The stock has a market cap of $30.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.74, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.46. 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 has a fifty-two week low of $75.13 and a fifty-two week high of $102.79. The company's fifty day moving average is $97.67 and its 200 day moving average is $89.97.
WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $1.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.93 billion. WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 11.72% and a net margin of 15.14%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.00 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that WEC Energy Group will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
WEC Energy Group Increases Dividend
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $0.8925 dividend. This represents a $3.57 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.68%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This is a boost from WEC Energy Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. WEC Energy Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 81.66%.
Insider Activity
In other news, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 40,269 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the director now owns 273,248 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,204,570.88. The trade was a 12.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 6,720 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.89, for a total transaction of $677,980.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 45,709 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,611,581.01. The trade was a 12.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 48,794 shares of company stock valued at $4,866,579 over the last quarter. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.
Institutional Investors Weigh In On WEC Energy Group
A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WEC. Fidelity D & D Bancorp Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $224,000. Retirement Systems of Alabama grew its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 518.8% in the third quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 431,103 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $41,463,000 after purchasing an additional 361,434 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in WEC Energy Group by 1.0% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 690,026 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $66,450,000 after purchasing an additional 6,583 shares in the last quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp raised its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 56.6% during the third quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 6,523 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $627,000 after purchasing an additional 2,358 shares during the period. Finally, Synovus Financial Corp boosted its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 2,980 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $287,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. 77.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
About WEC Energy Group
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Get Free ReportWEC 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.
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