WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) Upgraded by StockNews.com to Hold Rating

by · The Markets Daily

StockNews.com upgraded shares of WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC – Free Report) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Friday morning.

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on WEC. Bank of America raised their price target on WEC Energy Group from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $86.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on WEC Energy Group in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “hold” rating and a $102.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $90.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $94.45.

Get Our Latest Stock Report on WEC Energy Group

WEC Energy Group Stock Performance

Shares of WEC stock traded up $0.04 during trading on Friday, reaching $95.57. The company had a trading volume of 3,176,919 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,074,579. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $95.55 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $87.18. WEC Energy Group has a one year low of $75.13 and a one year high of $100.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The company has a market capitalization of $30.21 billion, a PE ratio of 23.37, a PEG ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.44.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC – Get Free Report) 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 net margin of 15.14% and a return on equity of 11.72%. The business had revenue of $1.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.93 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.00 earnings per share. WEC Energy Group’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that WEC Energy Group will post 4.87 earnings per share for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, November 14th will be paid a $0.835 dividend. This represents a $3.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.49%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 14th. WEC Energy Group’s payout ratio is presently 81.66%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Mary Beth Straka sold 3,240 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 3,662 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $340,712.48. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, VP Mary Beth Straka sold 3,240 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.04, for a total value of $301,449.60. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 3,662 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $340,712.48. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP William J. Guc sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $716,208.98. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 11,702 shares of company stock worth $1,078,058. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in WEC. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 688,812 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC raised its stake in WEC Energy Group by 11.8% in the second 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. lifted its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 3.5% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,782,939 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $139,889,000 after buying an additional 61,019 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,355,909 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $106,385,000 after acquiring an additional 22,026 shares during the period. Finally, Westwood Holdings Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 9.2% during the 1st quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 1,320,723 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $108,458,000 after acquiring an additional 111,254 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

About WEC Energy Group

(Get Free Report)

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.

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