WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) Reaches New 12-Month High - What's Next?

Key Points

• WEC Energy Group's stock reached a new 52-week high, trading at $115.36, reflecting investor confidence as it is backed by a mix of buy and hold ratings from analysts.
• The company reported earnings of $0.76 per share, surpassing analysts' expectations, with a year-over-year revenue increase of 13.4%.
• WEC Energy Group recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.8925, representing an annualized dividend yield of 3.1%, although insiders have sold a total of 68,448 shares recently.

WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC - Get Free Report)'s share price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $115.36 and last traded at $114.96, with a volume of 87445 shares. The stock had previously closed at $114.55.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on WEC. Citigroup began coverage on shares of WEC Energy Group in a report on Friday. They issued a "buy" rating and a $131.00 price target for the company. Wall Street Zen raised WEC Energy Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday. Scotiabank upped their price target on WEC Energy Group from $115.00 to $129.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of WEC Energy Group in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. Finally, UBS Group set a $107.00 price objective on WEC Energy Group and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, WEC Energy Group has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $110.70.

WEC Energy Group Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $37.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.47. 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 company's 50-day moving average is $109.50 and its 200-day moving average is $107.43.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.71 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $2.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.87 billion. WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 12.90% and a net margin of 17.87%.WEC Energy Group's quarterly revenue was up 13.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.67 EPS. WEC Energy Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.170-5.270 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 14th were issued a $0.8925 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 14th. This represents a $3.57 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. WEC Energy Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 68.39%.

Insider Activity

In other WEC Energy Group news, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 35,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.73, for a total value of $3,875,550.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 274,969 shares in the company, valued at $30,447,317.37. The trade was a 11.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Daniel Krueger sold 5,930 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.14, for a total transaction of $659,060.20. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 6,606 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $734,190.84. The trade was a 47.30% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 68,448 shares of company stock worth $7,581,132 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.50% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of WEC Energy Group

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. NBC Securities Inc. acquired a new position in WEC Energy Group in the first quarter valued at about $81,000. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in WEC Energy Group by 40.9% in the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 3,721 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $406,000 after purchasing an additional 1,080 shares during the period. Wedmont Private Capital acquired a new position in WEC Energy Group in the 1st quarter worth $262,000. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC increased its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 3.3% during the 1st quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC now owns 7,528 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $820,000 after purchasing an additional 238 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 48,147 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $5,247,000 after purchasing an additional 1,133 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.20% of the company's stock.

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.

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