Scotiabank Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) Stock

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) had its price objective lifted by equities research analysts at Scotiabank from $103.00 to $110.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “sector outperform” rating on the utilities provider’s stock. Scotiabank’s price target suggests a potential upside of 13.23% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com raised WEC Energy Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $108.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $86.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased 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. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $96.18.

WEC Energy Group Stock Up 0.0 %

NYSE:WEC opened at $97.15 on Monday. 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’s fifty day moving average price is $97.69 and its 200-day moving average price is $90.09. WEC Energy Group has a 1-year low of $75.13 and a 1-year high of $102.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.75, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.46.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $1.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.93 billion. WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 11.72% and a net margin of 15.14%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.00 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that WEC Energy Group will post 4.89 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 1,805 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.40, for a total transaction of $179,417.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 273,248 shares in the company, valued at $27,160,851.20. The trade was a 0.66 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 6,720 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.89, for a total value of $677,980.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 45,709 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,611,581.01. This trade represents a 12.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 48,794 shares of company stock worth $4,866,579 over the last quarter. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On WEC Energy Group

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Mizuho Securities USA LLC boosted its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 106,685.0% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 26,000,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,500,680,000 after purchasing an additional 25,975,652 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 17,270.5% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,718,179 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $453,794,000 after buying an additional 4,691,017 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 102.6% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,776,071 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $362,971,000 after acquiring an additional 1,912,223 shares during the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec grew its position in WEC Energy Group by 57.7% in the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 1,900,238 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $182,765,000 after acquiring an additional 695,317 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in WEC Energy Group by 36.7% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,566,001 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $201,328,000 after acquiring an additional 688,812 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.