WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) Receives $109.30 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the eleven brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have assigned a hold recommendation and five have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $112.20.

Several research firms have commented on WEC. Citigroup began coverage on WEC Energy Group in a report on Friday, October 3rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $131.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group boosted their target price on WEC Energy Group from $117.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. Wall Street Zen raised WEC Energy Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, October 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded WEC Energy Group from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $106.00 to $100.00 in a report on Wednesday, June 25th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of WEC Energy Group in a report on Wednesday.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 9,231 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.88, for a total transaction of $1,023,533.28. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 56,443 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,258,399.84. This represents a 14.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Molly A. Mulroy sold 4,030 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.33, for a total value of $444,629.90. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 5,829 shares in the company, valued at approximately $643,113.57. The trade was a 40.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 68,448 shares of company stock valued at $7,581,132. Corporate insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 1.6% in the second quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,712 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $595,000 after acquiring an additional 92 shares during the period. Manchester Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 14.3% in the first quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 744 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $81,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares during the period. MTM Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 3.6% in the second quarter. MTM Investment Management LLC now owns 2,720 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $283,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares during the period. State of Wyoming lifted its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 5.7% in the second quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 1,762 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $184,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares during the period. Finally, Clean Yield Group lifted its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 12.6% in the first quarter. Clean Yield Group now owns 867 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $94,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the period. 77.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

WEC Energy Group Price Performance

Shares of WEC stock opened at $115.07 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $37.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.04, a PEG ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.47. The business’s fifty day moving average is $109.95 and its 200 day moving average is $107.66. WEC Energy Group has a twelve month low of $91.94 and a twelve month high of $115.90. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, September 2nd. The utilities provider reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter. WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 12.90% and a net margin of 17.87%.The business had revenue of $2.28 billion for the quarter. Research analysts expect that WEC Energy Group will post 5.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 14th were issued a dividend of $0.8925 per share. This represents a $3.57 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 14th. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 68.39%.

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.