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

Shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) have received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the eight research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $101.88.

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on WEC shares. Bank of America upgraded WEC Energy Group from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the company from $90.00 to $98.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on WEC Energy Group from $112.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. KeyCorp raised their target price on WEC Energy Group from $108.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on WEC Energy Group from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, 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 note on Thursday, January 2nd.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other WEC Energy Group news, Director Ulice Payne, Jr. sold 1,150 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.17, for a total transaction of $119,795.50. Following the transaction, the director now owns 21,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,286,635.67. The trade was a 4.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 25,000 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.62, for a total value of $2,715,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 274,955 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,865,612.10. This trade represents a 8.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On WEC Energy Group

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Annex Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC now owns 110,644 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $10,405,000 after purchasing an additional 6,785 shares during the last quarter. Matrix Trust Co acquired a new stake in WEC Energy Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,538,000. DRW Securities LLC acquired a new stake in WEC Energy Group in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,392,000. Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 51.0% during the third quarter. Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC now owns 29,978 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,883,000 after buying an additional 10,126 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gateway Investment Advisers LLC lifted its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 20.9% during the fourth quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 453,945 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $42,689,000 after buying an additional 78,580 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

WEC Energy Group Stock Performance

WEC Energy Group stock opened at $107.12 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $33.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $101.55 and a 200-day moving average of $98.16. WEC Energy Group has a 52 week low of $77.47 and a 52 week high of $110.19.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.49 by ($0.06). WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 17.75% and a return on equity of 12.39%. The business had revenue of $2.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.50 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.10 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that WEC Energy Group will post 5.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.