WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) Receives $98.00 Average Price Target from Brokerages

Shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) have received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the ten brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have given a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $98.40.

Several research firms recently commented on WEC. Barclays upgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $89.00 to $93.00 in a research report on Thursday. KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $108.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on WEC Energy Group from $97.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 273,248 shares in the company, valued at $27,160,851.20. The trade was a 0.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 6,720 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, 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 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 valued at $4,866,579 over the last ninety days. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On WEC Energy Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in WEC. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 58.1% during the 2nd quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 321 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. Coastline Trust Co bought a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in WEC Energy Group during the third quarter worth $45,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

WEC Energy Group Stock Performance

NYSE WEC opened at $93.79 on Thursday. WEC Energy Group has a fifty-two week low of $75.13 and a fifty-two week high of $102.79. The stock has a market cap of $29.67 billion, a PE ratio of 22.93, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 0.65. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $96.84 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $91.89.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.82 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $1.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.93 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.00 EPS. WEC Energy Group’s quarterly revenue was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that WEC Energy Group will post 4.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Stockholders 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 represents a $3.57 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.81%. This is a positive change from WEC Energy Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. WEC Energy Group’s payout ratio is currently 87.29%.

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.