WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) Hits New 12-Month High – Here’s Why

WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $100.47 and last traded at $100.44, with a volume of 619228 shares. The stock had previously closed at $99.27.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. KeyCorp raised their target price on WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of WEC Energy Group in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $102.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Three research 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $94.45.

WEC Energy Group Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 0.65. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $96.69 and its 200-day moving average price is $88.85. The stock has a market cap of $31.84 billion, a PE ratio of 24.61, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.44.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.12. The company 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%. WEC Energy Group’s revenue was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.00 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.835 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $3.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.32%. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 81.66%.

Insider Transactions at WEC Energy Group

In other WEC Energy Group news, VP William J. Guc sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.99, for a total value of $557,940.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 7,702 shares in the company, valued at $716,208.98. This represents a 43.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 1,805 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director now owns 273,248 shares in the company, valued at $27,160,851.20. The trade was a 0.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 51,314 shares of company stock worth $5,047,988 in the last 90 days. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WEC. Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its position in WEC Energy Group by 106,685.0% in 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. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in WEC Energy Group by 17,270.5% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,718,179 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $453,794,000 after buying an additional 4,691,017 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in WEC Energy Group by 102.6% during 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 buying an additional 1,912,223 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec increased its position in WEC Energy Group by 57.7% during the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 1,900,238 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $182,765,000 after acquiring an additional 695,317 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 36.7% in 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 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.