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

Shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC - Get Free Report) have earned a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from the nine brokerages that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have issued a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $106.33.

A number of research firms recently commented on WEC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised WEC Energy Group from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $106.00 to $108.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $99.00 to $101.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $106.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Scotiabank set a $115.00 price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th.

WEC Energy Group Trading Down 0.2%

WEC traded down $0.23 during trading on Thursday, reaching $103.09. 1,851,105 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,144,850. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $106.44 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $103.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.90 billion, a PE ratio of 20.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.45. WEC Energy Group has a one year low of $77.47 and a one year high of $111.00. The company has a current ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $2.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.18 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $3.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.81 billion. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 17.95% and a return on equity of 12.94%. WEC Energy Group's revenue for the quarter was up 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.97 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that WEC Energy Group will post 5.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 14th were paid a $0.8975 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 14th. This represents a $3.59 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.48%. This is a positive change from WEC Energy Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. WEC Energy Group's payout ratio is currently 69.59%.

Insider Activity at WEC Energy Group

In other news, VP Joshua M. Erickson sold 2,155 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.77, for a total transaction of $232,244.35. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 2,686 shares of the company's stock, valued at $289,470.22. This represents a 44.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of WEC Energy Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of WEC. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 134.2% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 11,047,753 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,038,931,000 after buying an additional 6,329,574 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group in the 1st quarter worth about $403,372,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in WEC Energy Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $188,879,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in WEC Energy Group by 12,777.6% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,834,024 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $199,872,000 after purchasing an additional 1,819,782 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in WEC Energy Group by 3,815.2% during the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,471,096 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $138,342,000 after purchasing an additional 1,433,522 shares during the last quarter. 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.