WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) Reaches New 12-Month High After Analyst Upgrade

WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday after KeyCorp raised their price target on the stock from $98.00 to $103.00. KeyCorp currently has an overweight rating on the stock. WEC Energy Group traded as high as $96.94 and last traded at $96.85, with a volume of 539884 shares. The stock had previously closed at $96.18.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. StockNews.com downgraded WEC Energy Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on WEC Energy Group from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Scotiabank boosted their price target on 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $98.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $91.69.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Anthony Reese sold 1,362 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.78, for a total transaction of $120,918.36. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 1,462 shares in the company, valued at $129,796.36. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other WEC Energy Group news, VP Anthony Reese sold 1,362 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.78, for a total value of $120,918.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 1,462 shares in the company, valued at $129,796.36. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Joshua M. Erickson sold 350 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.75, for a total transaction of $31,412.50. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 2,377 shares in the company, valued at $213,335.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, 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

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV grew its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 2,248 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $216,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT increased its position in WEC Energy Group by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT now owns 6,047 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $474,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. Park National Corp OH grew its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Park National Corp OH now owns 3,964 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $381,000 after buying an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Diversified Trust Co raised its position in WEC Energy Group by 2.7% during the first quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 5,099 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $419,000 after acquiring an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. 77.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

WEC Energy Group Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.02, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.44. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $91.95 and its 200-day simple moving average is $84.74.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $1.77 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.87 billion. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 15.85% and a return on equity of 12.26%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.92 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 14th were issued a $0.835 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 14th. This represents a $3.34 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.47%. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 72.93%.

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.