WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the ten analysts that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have assigned a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $98.40.

WEC has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Barclays upgraded WEC Energy Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $89.00 to $93.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Bank of America raised WEC Energy Group from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $90.00 to $98.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. KeyCorp lifted their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $108.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped 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.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other WEC Energy Group news, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 6,720 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.89, for a total transaction of $677,980.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 45,709 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,611,581.01. This represents a 12.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 1,805 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.40, for a total transaction of $179,417.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 273,248 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,160,851.20. This represents a 0.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 48,794 shares of company stock valued at $4,866,579 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On WEC Energy Group

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in WEC. Marshall Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Marshall Financial Group LLC now owns 2,198 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $207,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV increased 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 worth $216,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the period. Tsfg LLC raised its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 2,699 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $254,000 after buying an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. Drake & Associates LLC lifted its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 2.0% in the third quarter. Drake & Associates LLC now owns 6,216 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $598,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the period. Finally, Park National Corp OH grew its position in WEC Energy Group by 3.4% during the third quarter. Park National Corp OH now owns 3,964 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $381,000 after buying an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

WEC Energy Group Price Performance

NYSE WEC opened at $98.02 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.01 billion, a PE ratio of 23.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.46. WEC Energy Group has a 12 month low of $75.13 and a 12 month high of $102.79. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $96.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $93.87.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $1.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.93 billion. WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 11.72% and a net margin of 15.14%. The company’s revenue was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.00 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that WEC Energy Group will post 4.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $0.835 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $3.34 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.41%. WEC Energy Group’s payout ratio is 81.66%.

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.