WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) Given Average Rating of "Hold" by Analysts

WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC - Get Free Report) has been given a consensus recommendation of "Hold" by the twelve research firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have assigned a hold recommendation and four have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $86.64.

Several equities analysts have weighed in on WEC shares. Bank of America reissued an "underperform" rating and set a $78.00 price objective (down from $84.00) on shares of WEC Energy Group in a report on Thursday, January 4th. StockNews.com lowered WEC Energy Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, January 13th. KeyCorp increased their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on WEC Energy Group from $93.00 to $91.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered WEC Energy Group from a "neutral" rating to an "underweight" rating and cut their price target for the stock from $90.00 to $84.00 in a report on Friday, February 2nd.

WEC Energy Group Stock Performance

Shares of WEC stock traded down $1.32 during trading on Friday, hitting $81.49. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,945,646 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,418,732. The company has a market cap of $25.70 billion, a PE ratio of 19.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a current ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The business has a fifty day moving average of $80.25 and a 200-day moving average of $81.42. WEC Energy Group has a 52 week low of $75.13 and a 52 week high of $97.34.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.02. WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 12.17% and a net margin of 14.98%. The business had revenue of $2.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.82 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.80 earnings per share. WEC Energy Group's revenue was down 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that WEC Energy Group will post 4.87 earnings per share for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 14th will be given a $0.835 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 13th. This represents a $3.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.10%. WEC Energy Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 79.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On WEC Energy Group

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Trueblood Wealth Management LLC raised its position in WEC Energy Group by 1.3% during the first quarter. Trueblood Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,671 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $958,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares in the last quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE increased its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 79.3% in the first quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 14,680 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,206,000 after buying an additional 6,491 shares during the period. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group in the first quarter worth about $32,000. Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 5.1% in the first quarter. Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC now owns 24,761 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,033,000 after buying an additional 1,204 shares during the period. Finally, Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group in the first quarter worth about $2,010,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.20% of the company's stock.

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.