WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) Sets New 1-Year High - What's Next?

Key Points

• WEC Energy Group shares have reached a new 52-week high at $112.15 with a recent trading price of $111.71, indicating strong investor interest.
• Analysts have a mixed outlook on the company, with a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $106.89, following downgrades by multiple firms.
• The company recently posted earnings of $0.76 per share for the last quarter, exceeding estimates, while also declaring a quarterly dividend representing a yield of 3.2%.

WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC - Get Free Report) shares reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $112.15 and last traded at $111.71, with a volume of 57320 shares. The stock had previously closed at $111.76.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen downgraded WEC Energy Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, July 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded WEC Energy Group from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $106.00 to $100.00 in a report on Wednesday, June 25th. Finally, UBS Group set a $107.00 target price on WEC Energy Group and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, WEC Energy Group currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $106.89.

WEC Energy Group Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 0.55 and a quick ratio of 0.40. The company has a market capitalization of $36.03 billion, a PE ratio of 21.46, a PEG ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.44. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $108.64 and a 200 day moving average of $107.03.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.76 earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate of $1.87 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.67 earnings per share. WEC Energy Group's revenue was up 13.4% on a year-over-year basis. WEC Energy Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.170-5.270 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 1st. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. WEC Energy Group's payout ratio is currently 68.39%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other WEC Energy Group news, EVP Daniel Krueger sold 5,930 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.14, for a total value of $659,060.20. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 6,606 shares of the company's stock, valued at $734,190.84. The trade was a 47.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Molly A. Mulroy sold 4,030 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.33, for a total value of $444,629.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 5,829 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $643,113.57. This trade represents a 40.88% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 68,448 shares of company stock worth $7,581,132 in the last quarter. 0.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On WEC Energy Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in WEC Energy Group during the 1st quarter valued at $403,372,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 1,819,782 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 34.9% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,213,304 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $567,727,000 after acquiring an additional 1,349,522 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 39,945,761 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $4,162,348,000 after acquiring an additional 816,243 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 16.6% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,103,604 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $556,191,000 after acquiring an additional 726,267 shares during the period. 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.

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