WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) Hits New 12-Month High - Should You Buy?

WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high on Monday . The company traded as high as $107.17 and last traded at $107.49, with a volume of 84151 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $106.69.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on WEC. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on WEC Energy Group from $112.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Barclays raised WEC Energy Group from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $89.00 to $93.00 in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. StockNews.com downgraded WEC Energy Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on WEC Energy Group from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Bank of America raised WEC Energy Group from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $90.00 to $98.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $101.88.

WEC Energy Group Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.60. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $99.61 and a 200-day simple moving average of $97.33. The company has a market cap of $33.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.65, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.45.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.49 by ($0.06). WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 12.39% and a net margin of 17.75%. The business had revenue of $2.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.50 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.10 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.23 earnings per share for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $0.835 per share. This represents a $3.34 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. WEC Energy Group's payout ratio is 73.91%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 25,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.62, for a total value of $2,715,500.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 274,955 shares in the company, valued at $29,865,612.10. This represents a 8.33 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Ulice Payne, Jr. sold 1,150 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.17, for a total value of $119,795.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 21,951 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,286,635.67. This represents a 4.98 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.44% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On WEC Energy Group

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Mizuho Securities USA LLC boosted its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 106,685.0% in the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 26,000,000 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,500,680,000 after acquiring an additional 25,975,652 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 134.2% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 11,047,753 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,038,931,000 after acquiring an additional 6,329,574 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,063,653 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $756,423,000 after acquiring an additional 110,802 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 5,722,158 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $538,112,000 after acquiring an additional 173,006 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 17.0% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,806,360 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $462,276,000 after acquiring an additional 699,177 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.