WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) Sets New 12-Month High – What’s Next?

WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday. The company traded as high as $120.15 and last traded at $119.5170, with a volume of 424,134 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $118.11.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on WEC. Weiss Ratings upgraded WEC Energy Group from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $127.00 to $129.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 30th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $117.00 to $108.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 19th. KeyCorp lowered their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $117.00 to $111.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 13th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $117.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 30th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $118.00.

WEC Energy Group Price Performance

The business’s 50-day moving average price is $106.45 and its 200 day moving average price is $111.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34. The company has a market capitalization of $38.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.43.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.21. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 17.54% and a return on equity of 13.49%. The business had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.27 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.83 EPS. WEC Energy Group’s revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 13th will be given a dividend of $0.9525 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 13th. This represents a $3.81 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. WEC Energy Group’s payout ratio is presently 69.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Ulice Payne, Jr. sold 980 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.58, for a total value of $103,468.40. Following the transaction, the director owned 19,588 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,068,101.04. This represents a 4.76% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WEC. Annex Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 8.6% in the 2nd quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC now owns 121,431 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $14,179,000 after purchasing an additional 9,591 shares during the period. DAVENPORT & Co LLC lifted its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 15.3% during the second quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 96,430 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $11,260,000 after purchasing an additional 12,773 shares in the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group in the second quarter worth approximately $2,783,000. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group in the second quarter worth approximately $3,773,000. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 16.9% in the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 617,881 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $72,303,000 after buying an additional 89,140 shares during the period. 77.20% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About WEC Energy Group

WEC Energy Group, Inc is an energy holding company headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Through its operating companies, the company generates and delivers electricity and provides natural gas distribution, storage and related energy services to residential, commercial and industrial customers.

WEC Energy’s principal utility businesses include We Energies and Wisconsin Public Service in Wisconsin, Michigan Gas Utilities, Minnesota Energy Resources, Upper Michigan Energy Resources and North Dakota utility operations.