WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) Hits New 52-Week High on Analyst Upgrade

WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) shares hit a new 52-week high on Thursday after Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on the stock from $98.00 to $103.00. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the stock. WEC Energy Group traded as high as $92.49 and last traded at $92.44, with a volume of 606682 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $91.75.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the company. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on WEC Energy Group from $87.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. KeyCorp dropped their price target on WEC Energy Group from $96.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. StockNews.com lowered WEC Energy Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Barclays boosted their target price on WEC Energy Group from $80.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price target on WEC Energy Group from $90.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, WEC Energy Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $88.69.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other WEC Energy Group news, VP Anthony Reese sold 1,362 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.78, for a total value of $120,918.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 1,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $129,796.36. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, Director Ulice Payne, Jr. sold 750 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.45, for a total value of $66,337.50. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 21,876 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,934,932.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Anthony Reese sold 1,362 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.78, for a total value of $120,918.36. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 1,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $129,796.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 2,462 shares of company stock worth $218,668. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of WEC Energy Group

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in WEC. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,071,148 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $342,669,000 after purchasing an additional 116,219 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 36.7% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,566,001 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $201,328,000 after buying an additional 688,812 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 11.8% in the 2nd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,954,778 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $153,372,000 after buying an additional 206,637 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,782,939 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $139,889,000 after buying an additional 61,019 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,777,770 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $149,635,000 after buying an additional 51,540 shares during the period. 77.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

WEC Energy Group Stock Up 0.9 %

The business has a fifty day moving average of $82.86 and a 200 day moving average of $81.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.03, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.41.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.04. The business 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 company’s revenue was down 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.92 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.88 earnings per share for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 14th will be given a $0.835 dividend. This represents a $3.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 14th. WEC Energy Group’s payout ratio is 72.93%.

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.