WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) Hits New 1-Year High at $95.53

WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $95.53 and last traded at $95.50, with a volume of 33811 shares. The stock had previously closed at $94.86.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WEC has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on WEC Energy Group from $98.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. 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 research note on Thursday, August 29th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on WEC Energy Group from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Scotiabank boosted their target price on WEC Energy Group from $90.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, KeyCorp lowered their target price on WEC Energy Group from $96.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $90.17.

WEC Energy Group Price Performance

The company has a fifty day moving average of $87.45 and a 200 day moving average of $83.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.79, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.44. 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 (NYSE:WEC) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.04. WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 12.26% and a net margin of 15.85%. The business had revenue of $1.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.87 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.92 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.88 earnings per share for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 14th were issued a $0.835 dividend. This represents a $3.34 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 14th. WEC Energy Group’s payout ratio is presently 72.93%.

Insider Activity at WEC Energy Group

In other WEC Energy Group news, VP Joshua M. Erickson sold 350 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.75, for a total transaction of $31,412.50. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 2,377 shares in the company, valued at approximately $213,335.75. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other WEC Energy Group news, VP Joshua M. Erickson sold 350 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.75, for a total transaction of $31,412.50. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 2,377 shares in the company, valued at approximately $213,335.75. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Ulice Payne, Jr. sold 750 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.45, for a total value of $66,337.50. Following the transaction, the director now owns 21,876 shares in the company, valued at $1,934,932.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 11,702 shares of company stock worth $1,078,058 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On WEC Energy Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of WEC. Vantage Financial Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 25.2% during the 4th quarter. Vantage Financial Partners LLC now owns 7,685 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $647,000 after buying an additional 1,547 shares in the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC raised its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 21.7% during the fourth quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 16,303 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,372,000 after purchasing an additional 2,902 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 18.2% during the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 30,910 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,602,000 after purchasing an additional 4,767 shares during the period. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 149.9% during the fourth quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 6,140 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $517,000 after purchasing an additional 3,683 shares during the period. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,796 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $656,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares during the period. 77.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

WEC Energy Group Company Profile

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.