Scotiabank Has Bearish Forecast for WEC FY2024 Earnings

WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) – Equities researchers at Scotiabank decreased their FY2024 earnings per share estimates for shares of WEC Energy Group in a report released on Wednesday, January 8th. Scotiabank analyst A. Weisel now expects that the utilities provider will earn $4.87 per share for the year, down from their previous forecast of $4.90. Scotiabank currently has a “Sector Outperform” rating and a $110.00 target price on the stock. The consensus estimate for WEC Energy Group’s current full-year earnings is $4.89 per share. Scotiabank also issued estimates for WEC Energy Group’s FY2026 earnings at $5.59 EPS.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Barclays upgraded WEC Energy Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $89.00 to $93.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of WEC Energy Group in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “hold” rating and a $102.00 target price on the stock. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $97.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $108.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $98.40.

WEC Energy Group Trading Down 1.4 %

WEC stock opened at $93.43 on Friday. WEC Energy Group has a 12-month low of $75.13 and a 12-month high of $102.79. The business’s 50-day moving average is $96.61 and its 200 day moving average is $92.42. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. The stock has a market cap of $29.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.84, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.48.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $1.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.93 billion. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 15.14% and a return on equity of 11.72%. The company’s revenue was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.00 earnings per share.

Institutional Trading of WEC Energy Group

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Coastline Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group during the third quarter worth $29,000. William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in WEC Energy Group during the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new position in WEC Energy Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $38,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in WEC Energy Group during the third quarter worth about $45,000. Finally, Friedenthal Financial acquired a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group during the third quarter worth about $50,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at WEC Energy Group

In related news, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 40,269 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.56, for a total transaction of $4,009,181.64. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 273,248 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,204,570.88. This trade represents a 12.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 6,720 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.89, for a total transaction of $677,980.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 45,709 shares in the company, valued at $4,611,581.01. The trade was a 12.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 48,794 shares of company stock worth $4,866,579 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

WEC Energy Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. This is a boost from WEC Energy Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $3.57 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.82%. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio is 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.