Wells Fargo & Company Raises WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) Price Target to $98.00

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) had its price target lifted by Wells Fargo & Company from $93.00 to $98.00 in a research note published on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

WEC has been the subject of a number of other research reports. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on WEC Energy Group from $90.00 to $87.00 and set a market perform rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $96.00 to $90.00 and set a sector outperform rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Barclays upped their price target on WEC Energy Group from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an underweight rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on WEC Energy Group in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued a neutral rating and a $88.00 target price on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report on Thursday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $86.85.

WEC Energy Group Stock Performance

Shares of WEC stock opened at $90.16 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $28.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.69, a PEG ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a current ratio of 0.74. WEC Energy Group has a 52 week low of $75.13 and a 52 week high of $92.23. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $80.49 and a 200 day simple moving average of $80.64.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $1.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.87 billion. WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 12.26% and a net margin of 15.85%. The business’s revenue was down 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.92 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that WEC Energy Group will post 4.88 earnings per share for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 14th will be issued a $0.835 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 14th. This represents a $3.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.70%. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 72.93%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On WEC Energy Group

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new position in WEC Energy Group during the 4th quarter worth $983,000. Dearborn Partners LLC grew its position in WEC Energy Group by 29.2% in the 4th quarter. Dearborn Partners LLC now owns 582,421 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $49,022,000 after purchasing an additional 131,797 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in WEC Energy Group by 6.7% in the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 316,255 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,391,000 after buying an additional 19,867 shares during the last quarter. Vaughan David Investments LLC IL increased its stake in WEC Energy Group by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Vaughan David Investments LLC IL now owns 428,408 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $36,059,000 after buying an additional 14,084 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alley Investment Management Company LLC lifted its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 324.5% during the 4th quarter. Alley Investment Management Company LLC now owns 39,256 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,304,000 after buying an additional 30,009 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.