WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.84

WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, October 17th,RTT News reports. Investors of record on Thursday, November 14th will be given a dividend of 0.835 per share by the utilities provider on Sunday, December 1st. This represents a $3.34 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 14th.

WEC Energy Group has raised its dividend by an average of 7.2% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 22 consecutive years. WEC Energy Group has a dividend payout ratio of 64.0% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect WEC Energy Group to earn $5.22 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.34 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 64.0%.

WEC Energy Group Price Performance

WEC opened at $98.69 on Tuesday. WEC Energy Group has a 1 year low of $75.13 and a 1 year high of $100.31. The firm has a market cap of $31.22 billion, a PE ratio of 24.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.44. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $95.87 and a 200-day moving average price of $87.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.46.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of WEC Energy Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. 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 report on Thursday, August 29th. KeyCorp raised their price target on WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, 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. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, WEC Energy Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $94.45.

Insider Transactions at WEC Energy Group

In related news, VP Mary Beth Straka sold 3,240 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.04, for a total value of $301,449.60. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 3,662 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $340,712.48. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other WEC Energy Group news, VP Mary Beth Straka sold 3,240 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.04, for a total value of $301,449.60. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 3,662 shares in the company, valued at $340,712.48. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP William J. Guc sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.99, for a total transaction of $557,940.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 7,702 shares in the company, valued at approximately $716,208.98. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

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.