Brokerages Set WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) Target Price at $94.45

WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) has earned an average rating of “Hold” from the eleven ratings firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have issued a hold recommendation and four have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $94.45.

Several research firms have recently issued reports on WEC. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on WEC Energy Group in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “hold” rating and a $102.00 target price for the company. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $90.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. 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 price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP William J. Guc sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.99, for a total transaction of $557,940.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 7,702 shares in the company, valued at $716,208.98. This represents a 43.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Mary Beth Straka sold 3,240 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.04, for a total transaction of $301,449.60. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 3,662 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $340,712.48. This trade represents a 46.94 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of WEC Energy Group

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its position in WEC Energy Group by 46.8% in the first quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 11,443 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $940,000 after acquiring an additional 3,647 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its position in WEC Energy Group by 19.4% during the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 109,421 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $8,985,000 after purchasing an additional 17,807 shares in the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. lifted its position in WEC Energy Group by 17.0% during the first quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 39,497 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,244,000 after purchasing an additional 5,733 shares in the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 6.7% during the first quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 7,767 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $638,000 after purchasing an additional 491 shares during the period. Finally, State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System increased its position in WEC Energy Group by 20.3% in the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 423,718 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $34,796,000 after buying an additional 71,439 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

WEC Energy Group Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of WEC opened at $97.98 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.62, a PEG ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.44. WEC Energy Group has a twelve month low of $75.13 and a twelve month high of $100.31. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $96.15 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $88.15.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last posted its earnings results 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 net margin of 15.14% and a return on equity of 11.72%. The company had revenue of $1.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.93 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.00 earnings per share. WEC Energy Group’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that WEC Energy Group will post 4.87 EPS for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.835 per share. This represents a $3.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.41%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 14th. WEC Energy Group’s payout ratio is currently 81.66%.

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.