WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) Sets New 12-Month High - Here's What Happened

WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC - Get Free Report)'s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $101.68 and last traded at $101.55, with a volume of 1197420 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $101.35.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WEC has been the topic of a number of research reports. Bank of America upped their price target 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. KeyCorp upped their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Scotiabank lifted their target price on WEC Energy Group from $90.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Barclays upped 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. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of WEC Energy Group in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $102.00 price objective for the company. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $94.45.

WEC Energy Group Trading Up 0.2 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.46. The company has a market cap of $32.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.44. The business's fifty day moving average price is $96.92 and its 200 day moving average price is $89.14.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $1.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.93 billion. WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 11.72% and a net margin of 15.14%. The business's revenue was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.00 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.835 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $3.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.29%. WEC Energy Group's payout ratio is currently 81.66%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other WEC Energy Group news, VP Mary Beth Straka sold 3,240 shares of the company's 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 3,662 shares in the company, valued at approximately $340,712.48. This represents a 46.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 40,269 shares of WEC Energy Group 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 transaction, the director now owns 273,248 shares of the company's stock, valued at $27,204,570.88. This trade represents a 12.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 52,034 shares of company stock worth $5,168,029. 0.44% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On WEC Energy Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of WEC. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV raised its position in WEC Energy Group by 5.2% in the third quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 2,248 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $216,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares during the period. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT boosted its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT now owns 6,047 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $474,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the period. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. grew its position in WEC Energy Group by 58.1% during the second quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 321 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Drake & Associates LLC grew its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 2.0% during the third quarter. Drake & Associates LLC now owns 6,216 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $598,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Park National Corp OH grew its stake in WEC Energy Group by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Park National Corp OH now owns 3,964 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $381,000 after buying an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.