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

Shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC - Get Free Report) have been assigned a consensus rating of "Hold" from the eight research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $107.13.

WEC has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Scotiabank set a $115.00 price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $99.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of WEC Energy Group from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $106.00 to $108.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of WEC Energy Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Joshua M. Erickson sold 2,155 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.77, for a total transaction of $232,244.35. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 2,686 shares in the company, valued at approximately $289,470.22. This trade represents a 44.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of WEC Energy Group

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Marcum Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC now owns 7,416 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $808,000 after buying an additional 93 shares during the period. Manchester Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 14.3% during the 1st quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 744 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $81,000 after buying an additional 93 shares during the period. Clean Yield Group grew its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 12.6% during the 1st quarter. Clean Yield Group now owns 867 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $94,000 after buying an additional 97 shares during the period. MJP Associates Inc. ADV grew its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. MJP Associates Inc. ADV now owns 3,019 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $284,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the period. Finally, Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 3.0% during the 1st quarter. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,335 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $363,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the period. 77.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

WEC Energy Group Stock Performance

NYSE:WEC traded down $1.59 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $105.78. The stock had a trading volume of 1,553,743 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,124,968. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $33.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.90, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.46. WEC Energy Group has a twelve month low of $77.47 and a twelve month high of $111.00. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $107.03 and a 200 day simple moving average of $102.55.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $2.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.18 by $0.09. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 17.75% and a return on equity of 12.39%. The company had revenue of $3.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.81 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.97 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 17.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that WEC Energy Group will post 5.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 14th were given a dividend of $0.8975 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 14th. This represents a $3.59 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.39%. This is a positive change from WEC Energy Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. WEC Energy Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 69.59%.

WEC Energy Group Company Profile

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.