Zacks Research Brokers Increase Earnings Estimates for WEC

WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) – Equities research analysts at Zacks Research lifted their Q1 2025 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for WEC Energy Group in a research note issued on Monday, December 23rd. Zacks Research analyst R. Department now anticipates that the utilities provider will post earnings of $2.23 per share for the quarter, up from their prior estimate of $2.17. The consensus estimate for WEC Energy Group’s current full-year earnings is $4.89 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for WEC Energy Group’s Q3 2025 earnings at $0.86 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $1.36 EPS, Q1 2026 earnings at $2.30 EPS and Q3 2026 earnings at $1.03 EPS.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.12. WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 11.72% and a net margin of 15.14%. The firm had revenue of $1.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.93 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.00 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on WEC. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Bank of America upgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $90.00 to $98.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on WEC Energy Group from $97.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. StockNews.com raised WEC Energy Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $98.00.

WEC Energy Group Stock Performance

Shares of WEC opened at $95.04 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $97.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $91.11. The firm has a market cap of $30.07 billion, a PE ratio of 23.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.46. WEC Energy Group has a 12-month low of $75.13 and a 12-month high of $102.79. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in WEC. Fidelity D & D Bancorp Inc. acquired a new stake in WEC Energy Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $224,000. Retirement Systems of Alabama lifted its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 518.8% in the third quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 431,103 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $41,463,000 after purchasing an additional 361,434 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 1.0% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 690,026 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $66,450,000 after purchasing an additional 6,583 shares during the last quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 56.6% during the 3rd quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 6,523 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $627,000 after purchasing an additional 2,358 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Synovus Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 2,980 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $287,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at WEC Energy Group

In other news, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 40,269 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.56, for a total transaction of $4,009,181.64. Following the sale, the director now owns 273,248 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,204,570.88. The trade was a 12.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through 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 stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $4,611,581.01. This represents a 12.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 48,794 shares of company stock valued at $4,866,579 in the last ninety days. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

WEC Energy Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $0.8925 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This is an increase from WEC Energy Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. This represents a $3.57 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.76%. WEC Energy Group’s payout ratio is 87.29%.

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.