WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Analyst sentiment is moderately bullish: Eighteen brokerages assign WEC Energy Group a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating, with seven buys, one strong buy and ten holds. The average 12-month price target is approximately $121.91, above the reported share price of $107.60.
• Recent quarterly results exceeded expectations, with earnings per share of $0.91 versus the $0.80 consensus estimate. Revenue rose 2.6% year over year to $2.06 billion, though it fell slightly short of estimates.
• WEC declared a quarterly dividend of $0.9525, equivalent to $3.81 annually and a 3.5% yield. Institutional investors own 77.2% of the company, while an insider recently sold 980 shares.

Shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC - Get Free Report) have earned a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the eighteen ratings firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, seven have given a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $121.9062.

A number of brokerages have recently commented on WEC. Truist Financial lowered their price target on WEC Energy Group from $122.00 to $114.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of WEC Energy Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Sunday, May 24th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $120.00 to $117.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Weiss Ratings lowered WEC Energy Group from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Mizuho set a $124.00 target price on WEC Energy Group in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th.

Insider Buying and Selling at WEC Energy Group

In other news, Director Ulice Payne, Jr. sold 980 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction that occurred 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. The trade was a 4.76% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.46% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of WEC Energy Group

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Pure Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,319 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $245,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. Inscription Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Inscription Capital LLC now owns 2,036 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $215,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. raised its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 1.7% during the third quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 5,511 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $632,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares during the period. State of Wyoming raised its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 5.7% during the second quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 1,762 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $184,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the period. Finally, Community Bank & Trust Waco Texas lifted its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Community Bank & Trust Waco Texas now owns 1,964 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $207,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. 77.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

WEC Energy Group Price Performance

NYSE WEC opened at $107.60 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $112.73 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $113.70. WEC Energy Group has a 52 week low of $102.95 and a 52 week high of $119.91. The stock has a market cap of $35.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a current ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The utilities provider reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.11. WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 12.90% and a net margin of 16.69%.The business had revenue of $2.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.11 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.76 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. WEC Energy Group has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.510-5.610 EPS. Analysts forecast that WEC Energy Group will post 5.59 EPS for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 14th will be issued a $0.9525 dividend. This represents a $3.81 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 14th. WEC Energy Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 73.84%.

WEC Energy Group Company Profile

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.

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