StockNews.com Lowers WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) to Sell

StockNews.com downgraded shares of WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note published on Friday.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on WEC. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $93.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $96.00 to $90.00 and set a sector outperform rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on WEC Energy Group from $87.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. KeyCorp lowered their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $96.00 to $95.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $80.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an underweight rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $87.31.

WEC Energy Group Stock Performance

Shares of WEC opened at $88.13 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.54. WEC Energy Group has a one year low of $75.13 and a one year high of $92.23. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $81.33 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $80.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.86 billion, a PE ratio of 19.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.41.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $1.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.87 billion. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 15.85% and a return on equity of 12.26%. The business’s revenue was down 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.92 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that WEC Energy Group will post 4.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.835 per share. This represents a $3.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.79%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 14th. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 72.93%.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Joshua M. Erickson sold 350 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.75, for a total transaction of $31,412.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 2,377 shares in the company, valued at $213,335.75. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other WEC Energy Group news, VP Joshua M. Erickson sold 350 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.75, for a total value of $31,412.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 2,377 shares in the company, valued at $213,335.75. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Anthony Reese sold 1,362 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.78, for a total transaction of $120,918.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 1,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $129,796.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in WEC Energy Group by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,071,148 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $342,669,000 after acquiring an additional 116,219 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in 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 worth $201,328,000 after buying an additional 688,812 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,782,939 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $139,889,000 after purchasing an additional 61,019 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,777,770 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $149,635,000 after acquiring an additional 51,540 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Earnest Partners LLC raised its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 36.0% in the first quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,748,141 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $143,557,000 after buying an additional 462,646 shares during the last quarter. 77.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.