WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) Receives $106.40 Average Price Target from Brokerages

Key Points

• WEC Energy Group has received a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from ten research firms, with one sell rating, six hold ratings, and three buy ratings.
• The company's recent earnings announcement reported an EPS of $0.76, beating estimates, and revenue increased by 13.4% year-over-year.
• WEC Energy Group has recently cut its dividend to $0.8925 per quarter, with a current yield of 3.3%, and a payout ratio of 68.39%.

WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC - Get Free Report) has been assigned an average rating of "Hold" from the ten analysts that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $106.40.

WEC has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen cut shares of WEC Energy Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, July 12th. Scotiabank set a $115.00 price target on shares of WEC Energy Group and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. UBS Group set a $107.00 target price on shares of WEC Energy Group and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on 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.

WEC Energy Group Stock Performance

NYSE WEC traded up $1.18 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $107.57. 167,677 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,219,093. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $34.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.42. WEC Energy Group has a 1 year low of $90.19 and a 1 year high of $111.90. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $106.64 and its 200-day simple moving average is $106.20.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.71 by $0.05. WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 12.90% and a net margin of 17.87%. The company had revenue of $2.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.87 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.67 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 13.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that WEC Energy Group will post 5.23 earnings per share for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 14th will be given a $0.8925 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 14th. This represents a $3.57 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.3%. WEC Energy Group's payout ratio is presently 68.39%.

Insider Transactions at WEC Energy Group

In other news, Director Ulice Payne, Jr. sold 1,620 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.00, for a total value of $179,820.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 20,360 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,259,960. This trade represents a 7.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Molly A. Mulroy sold 4,030 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction on Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.33, for a total transaction of $444,629.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 5,829 shares in the company, valued at approximately $643,113.57. The trade was a 40.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 68,448 shares of company stock valued at $7,581,132. Insiders own 0.50% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On WEC Energy Group

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. raised its position in WEC Energy Group by 15.4% during the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 31,327 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,945,000 after purchasing an additional 4,182 shares during the last quarter. Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $285,000. Barclays PLC increased its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 40.9% during the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 802,556 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $75,473,000 after buying an additional 232,894 shares during the period. Mariner LLC raised its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 147,524 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $13,873,000 after acquiring an additional 6,547 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CreativeOne Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in WEC Energy Group in the fourth quarter worth $315,000. 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.