WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) Lowered to Sell Rating by Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen downgraded WEC Energy Group from “hold” to “sell,” even though the broader analyst consensus remains “Hold” with an average target price of $122.13.
• The company recently reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $2.45 versus $2.30 expected and revenue of $3.43 billion, up 9% year over year.
• Shares were trading around $113.28 after a 1.0% gain, while insider selling and a high institutional ownership level of 77.2% were also noted.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC - Get Free Report) was downgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note issued on Sunday.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on WEC. KeyCorp upped their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $117.00 to $126.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Argus upgraded WEC Energy Group to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Mizuho set a $124.00 target price on WEC Energy Group in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. BTIG Research reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $135.00 target price on shares of WEC Energy Group in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Truist Financial cut their target price on WEC Energy Group from $124.00 to $119.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, WEC Energy Group presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $122.13.

WEC Energy Group Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of WEC stock opened at $113.28 on Friday. WEC Energy Group has a 1 year low of $102.49 and a 1 year high of $119.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $114.64 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $111.63. The company has a market cap of $36.90 billion, a PE ratio of 22.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.50.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The utilities provider reported $2.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.15. WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 12.72% and a net margin of 16.25%.The business had revenue of $3.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.32 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.27 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. WEC Energy Group has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.510-5.610 EPS. Research analysts predict that WEC Energy Group will post 5.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at WEC Energy Group

In related news, Director Ulice Payne, Jr. sold 1,450 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $114.60, for a total value of $166,170.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 20,541 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,353,998.60. This represents a 6.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Daniel Krueger sold 4,665 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.96, for a total value of $517,628.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 7,346 shares in the company, valued at approximately $815,112.16. This trade represents a 38.84% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.46% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of WEC. Godfrey Financial Associates Inc. bought a new position in WEC Energy Group in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Torren Management LLC bought a new position in WEC Energy Group in the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in WEC Energy Group in the second quarter worth approximately $27,000. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its stake in WEC Energy Group by 113.9% in the first quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 246 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. grew its stake in WEC Energy Group by 972.7% in the first quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 236 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 214 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.20% of the company's stock.

About WEC Energy Group

WEC Energy Group is a Milwaukee, Wisconsin–based regulated energy holding company whose primary businesses are the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity and the distribution of natural gas. The company operates through a set of utility subsidiaries that provide bundled energy service, customer billing and energy-related programs to residential, commercial and industrial customers. As a regulated utility group, WEC's operations focus on delivering reliable service while managing infrastructure investment and compliance with state and federal utility regulation.

Its utility subsidiaries include well-known regional operators such as We Energies and Wisconsin Public Service, along with Chicago-area natural gas utilities that were part of the Integrys Energy Group acquisition.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.