WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) Reaches New 1-Year High – Time to Buy?

Shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $119.91 and last traded at $119.4760, with a volume of 159430 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $116.63.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Wall Street Zen downgraded WEC Energy Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Sunday, May 24th. Barclays lifted their price target on WEC Energy Group from $111.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. Mizuho set a $124.00 price target on WEC Energy Group in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $127.00 price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $123.60.

WEC Energy Group Stock Performance

The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $113.64 and its 200-day simple moving average is $112.81. The stock has a market cap of $37.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The utilities provider reported $2.45 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $3.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.32 billion. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 16.25% and a return on equity of 12.72%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.27 earnings per share. WEC Energy Group has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.510-5.610 EPS. Analysts forecast that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 14th were issued a $0.9525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 14th. This represents a $3.81 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.3%. WEC Energy Group’s payout ratio is currently 76.05%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Daniel Krueger sold 4,665 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.96, for a total transaction of $517,628.40. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 7,346 shares in the company, valued at approximately $815,112.16. This represents a 38.84% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.46% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in WEC Energy Group by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 41,099,951 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,334,401,000 after buying an additional 819,627 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,838,003 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $928,653,000 after buying an additional 88,557 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,336,861 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $562,826,000 after buying an additional 52,467 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,641,145 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $383,995,000 after acquiring an additional 48,903 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 175.0% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,357,608 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $354,093,000 after acquiring an additional 2,136,542 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

About WEC Energy Group

WEC Energy Group is a Milwaukee, Wisconsin–based regulated energy holding company whose primary businesses are the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity and the distribution of natural gas. The company operates through a set of utility subsidiaries that provide bundled energy service, customer billing and energy-related programs to residential, commercial and industrial customers. As a regulated utility group, WEC’s operations focus on delivering reliable service while managing infrastructure investment and compliance with state and federal utility regulation.

Its utility subsidiaries include well-known regional operators such as We Energies and Wisconsin Public Service, along with Chicago-area natural gas utilities that were part of the Integrys Energy Group acquisition.