KeyCorp Lowers Earnings Estimates for WEC Energy Group

WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) – Equities research analysts at KeyCorp lowered their FY2024 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of WEC Energy Group in a report released on Monday, October 21st. KeyCorp analyst S. Karp now expects that the utilities provider will post earnings of $4.87 per share for the year, down from their prior forecast of $4.88. KeyCorp currently has a “Overweight” rating and a $108.00 target price on the stock. The consensus estimate for WEC Energy Group’s current full-year earnings is $4.87 per share. KeyCorp also issued estimates for WEC Energy Group’s FY2026 earnings at $5.50 EPS, FY2027 earnings at $5.87 EPS and FY2028 earnings at $6.24 EPS.

Several other equities research analysts have also weighed in on WEC. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Barclays lifted their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $86.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. 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 report on Wednesday, October 16th. StockNews.com lowered WEC Energy Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group began 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. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $94.45.

WEC Energy Group Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of WEC opened at $99.53 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $94.78 and a 200 day moving average of $86.43. WEC Energy Group has a fifty-two week low of $75.13 and a fifty-two week high of $100.31. The firm has a market cap of $31.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.74.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.04. WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 12.26% and a net margin of 15.85%. The company had revenue of $1.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.87 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.92 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.2% on a year-over-year basis.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On WEC Energy Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in WEC. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,639,000. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group during the first quarter valued at approximately $487,000. Brookstone Capital Management raised its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 789.0% during the first quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 125,219 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $10,283,000 after acquiring an additional 111,134 shares in the last quarter. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC bought a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group during the first quarter valued at approximately $72,000. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in WEC Energy Group by 11.8% in the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 147,650 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $12,125,000 after purchasing an additional 15,546 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at WEC Energy Group

In other WEC Energy Group news, VP Joshua M. Erickson sold 350 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.75, for a total value of $31,412.50. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 2,377 shares in the company, valued at approximately $213,335.75. 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 this hyperlink. In other WEC Energy Group news, VP Joshua M. Erickson sold 350 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.75, for a total value of $31,412.50. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 2,377 shares in the company, valued at approximately $213,335.75. 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 this hyperlink. Also, Director Ulice Payne, Jr. sold 750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.45, for a total value of $66,337.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 21,876 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,934,932.20. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 11,702 shares of company stock worth $1,078,058. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

WEC Energy Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 14th will be given a $0.835 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $3.34 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.36%. WEC Energy Group’s payout ratio is currently 77.14%.

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.