WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) Upgraded to Neutral at Bank of America

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC - Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Bank of America from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has a $98.00 target price on the utilities provider's stock, up from their prior target price of $90.00. Bank of America's target price suggests a potential upside of 2.23% from the company's current price.

Several other analysts also recently commented on WEC. KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $108.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $97.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on WEC Energy Group in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $102.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on WEC Energy Group from $86.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, WEC Energy Group currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $96.91.

WEC Energy Group Trading Up 0.3 %

NYSE:WEC traded up $0.25 on Thursday, hitting $95.86. 1,678,534 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,113,787. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 0.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.46. The company's 50-day moving average price is $97.68 and its 200 day moving average price is $90.24. WEC Energy Group has a 52 week low of $75.13 and a 52 week high of $102.79.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $1.86 billion during 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 company's revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.00 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that WEC Energy Group will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 40,269 shares of WEC Energy Group 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 273,248 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,204,570.88. The trade was a 12.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 6,720 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.89, for a total value of $677,980.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 45,709 shares in the company, valued at $4,611,581.01. This represents a 12.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 48,794 shares of company stock valued at $4,866,579. Insiders own 0.34% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of WEC Energy Group

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of WEC. Coastline Trust Co acquired a new position in WEC Energy Group in the third quarter valued at about $29,000. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 58.1% in the 2nd quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 321 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Triad Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in WEC Energy Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $45,000. 77.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.