WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) Price Target Raised to $104.00 at BMO Capital Markets

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) had its price objective raised by BMO Capital Markets from $97.00 to $104.00 in a research report sent to investors on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a market perform rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also commented on WEC. StockNews.com upgraded WEC Energy Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Barclays boosted their target price on WEC Energy Group from $86.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Bank of America boosted their target price on WEC Energy Group from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Scotiabank upped their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $90.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, KeyCorp increased their price target on WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, WEC Energy Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $95.45.

WEC Energy Group Stock Performance

Shares of WEC stock opened at $99.61 on Monday. WEC Energy Group has a 1-year low of $75.13 and a 1-year high of $102.79. 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 company has a market capitalization of $31.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.46. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $97.33 and its 200-day simple moving average is $89.49.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $1.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.93 billion. WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 11.72% and a net margin of 15.14%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.00 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that WEC Energy Group will post 4.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, November 14th were given a $0.835 dividend. This represents a $3.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 14th. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 81.66%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 6,720 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.89, for a total value of $677,980.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 45,709 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,611,581.01. The trade was a 12.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 40,269 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were 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 owns 273,248 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,204,570.88. The trade was a 12.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 48,794 shares of company stock worth $4,866,579. Company insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in WEC. Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 106,685.0% during the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 26,000,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,500,680,000 after purchasing an additional 25,975,652 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,952,851 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $762,453,000 after acquiring an additional 105,580 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 17,270.5% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,718,179 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $453,794,000 after purchasing an additional 4,691,017 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 102.6% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,776,071 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $362,971,000 after acquiring an additional 1,912,223 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 36.7% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,566,001 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $201,328,000 after acquiring an additional 688,812 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

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.