WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) Receives Consensus Rating of "Hold" from Analysts

WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC - Get Free Report) has received a consensus rating of "Hold" from the eight analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $105.38.

WEC has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $112.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Barclays lifted their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $99.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised WEC Energy Group from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their target price for the company from $106.00 to $108.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on WEC Energy Group from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th.

WEC Energy Group Stock Up 1.1 %

NYSE:WEC opened at $109.86 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $35.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.74, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.46. The company's fifty day moving average price is $106.99 and its 200-day moving average price is $101.25. WEC Energy Group has a 1-year low of $77.47 and a 1-year high of $111.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 0.60 and a quick ratio of 0.43.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 the consensus estimate of $2.81 billion. WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 12.39% and a net margin of 17.75%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 17.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.97 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that WEC Energy Group will post 5.23 EPS for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 14th will be paid a $0.8975 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 14th. This is an increase from WEC Energy Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. This represents a $3.59 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.27%. WEC Energy Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 73.91%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 25,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.62, for a total transaction of $2,715,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 274,955 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $29,865,612.10. This trade represents a 8.33 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Ulice Payne, Jr. sold 1,150 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.17, for a total transaction of $119,795.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 21,951 shares in the company, valued at $2,286,635.67. The trade was a 4.98 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 134.2% in the 4th 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 period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in WEC Energy Group by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,063,653 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $756,423,000 after purchasing an additional 110,802 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG increased its stake in WEC Energy Group by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 5,722,158 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $538,112,000 after purchasing an additional 173,006 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 17.0% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,806,360 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $462,276,000 after purchasing an additional 699,177 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 7.9% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,212,188 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $396,114,000 after purchasing an additional 309,697 shares during the period. 77.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

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