WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) Issues FY24 Earnings Guidance

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) issued an update on its FY24 earnings guidance on Tuesday morning. The company provided EPS guidance of $4.80-4.90 for the period, compared to the consensus EPS estimate of $4.87. WEC Energy Group also updated its FY 2024 guidance to 4.800-4.900 EPS.

WEC Energy Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WEC opened at $81.18 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.24, a PEG ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.40. WEC Energy Group has a one year low of $75.13 and a one year high of $99.26. The company’s fifty day moving average is $79.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $81.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.55.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.02. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 14.98% and a return on equity of 12.17%. The business had revenue of $2.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.82 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.80 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that WEC Energy Group will post 4.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on WEC. Barclays dropped their price target on WEC Energy Group from $79.00 to $75.00 and set an underweight rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded WEC Energy Group from a neutral rating to an underweight rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $90.00 to $84.00 in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on WEC Energy Group from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a sector perform rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Bank of America reaffirmed an underperform rating and issued a $78.00 price objective (down previously from $84.00) on shares of WEC Energy Group in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded WEC Energy Group from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report on Saturday, January 13th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $86.17.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other WEC Energy Group news, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 2,830 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.89, for a total transaction of $223,258.70. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 43,125 shares in the company, valued at $3,402,131.25. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Chairman Gale E. Klappa sold 37,180 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.69, for a total transaction of $2,925,694.20. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 274,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,622,595.58. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 2,830 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.89, for a total value of $223,258.70. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 43,125 shares in the company, valued at $3,402,131.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of WEC Energy Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. FIL Ltd increased its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 9.2% in the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 470,782 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $39,626,000 after buying an additional 39,480 shares during the last quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main increased its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 7.9% in the fourth quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 327,415 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,559,000 after buying an additional 24,000 shares during the last quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC bought a new stake in WEC Energy Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $737,000. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. bought a new stake in WEC Energy Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $333,000. Finally, Oarsman Capital Inc. increased its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Oarsman Capital Inc. now owns 5,976 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $503,000 after buying an additional 158 shares during the last quarter. 77.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.