WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) Releases Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.07 EPS

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The utilities provider reported $1.97 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.07, Briefing.com reports. The company had revenue of $2.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.92 billion. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 14.98% and a return on equity of 12.17%. WEC Energy Group’s revenue was down 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.61 EPS. WEC Energy Group updated its FY24 guidance to $4.80-4.90 EPS.

WEC Energy Group Price Performance

NYSE WEC traded up $0.25 on Thursday, reaching $82.84. The company had a trading volume of 796,895 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,128,487. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.13 billion, a PE ratio of 19.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.40. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $80.50 and its 200 day moving average price is $81.43. WEC Energy Group has a 12 month low of $75.13 and a 12 month high of $96.17.

WEC Energy Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 14th will be given a dividend of $0.835 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 13th. This represents a $3.34 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.03%. WEC Energy Group’s payout ratio is 79.15%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WEC has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. Scotiabank cut their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $96.00 to $90.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of WEC Energy Group from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their price target for the company from $90.00 to $84.00 in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Bank of America restated an “underperform” rating and set a $78.00 price target (down from $84.00) on shares of WEC Energy Group in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of WEC Energy Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, January 13th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $86.29.

Insider Buying and Selling at WEC Energy Group

In other news, Chairman Gale E. Klappa sold 37,180 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.69, for a total transaction of $2,925,694.20. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 274,782 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,622,595.58. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, Chairman Gale E. Klappa sold 37,180 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.69, for a total transaction of $2,925,694.20. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 274,782 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,622,595.58. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 2,830 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.89, for a total transaction of $223,258.70. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 43,125 shares in the company, valued at $3,402,131.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About WEC Energy Group

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.