WEC Energy Group, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides regulated natural gas and electricity, and renewable and nonregulated renewable energy services in the United States. The company operates through six segments: Wisconsin, Illinois, Other States, Electric Transmission, Non-Utility Energy Infrastructure, and Corporate and Other. It generates and distributes electricity from coal, natural gas, oil, hydroelectric, wind, solar, and biomass sources; provides electric transmission services; offers retail natural gas distribution services; transports natural gas; and generates, distributes, and sells steam. As of December 31, 2021, it operated approximately 35,800 miles of overhead distribution lines and 35,600 miles of underground distribution cables, as well as 440 electric distribution substations and 510,500 line transformers; 50,900 miles of natural gas distribution mains; 1,200 miles of natural gas transmission mains; 2.3 million natural gas lateral services; 500 natural gas distribution and transmission gate stations; and 68.2 billion cubic feet of working gas capacities in underground natural gas storage fields. The company was formerly known as Wisconsin Energy Corporation and changed its name to WEC Energy Group, Inc. in June 2015. WEC Energy Group, Inc. was incorporated in 1981 and is headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
WEC Energy Group Trading Up 0.7 %
Shares of WEC Energy Group stock traded up $0.74 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $103.86. The company had a trading volume of 24,576 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,493,011. The firm has a market cap of $32.76 billion, a PE ratio of 23.82, a P/E/G ratio of 3.87 and a beta of 0.28. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $99.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $98.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.54. WEC Energy Group has a fifty-two week low of $86.84 and a fifty-two week high of $108.39.
WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC - Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 2nd. The utilities provider reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $2.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.76 billion. WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 12.15% and a net margin of 15.23%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 26.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.87 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that WEC Energy Group will post 4.38 earnings per share for the current year.
WEC Energy Group Announces Dividend
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.7275 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 11th. This represents a $2.91 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.80%. WEC Energy Group's dividend payout ratio is 67.21%.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
A number of brokerages recently commented on WEC. Mizuho decreased their price target on WEC Energy Group from $107.00 to $93.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 17th. Credit Suisse Group cut WEC Energy Group from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $108.00 to $98.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 20th. Bank of America upgraded WEC Energy Group from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $109.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 13th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on WEC Energy Group from $111.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 3rd. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on WEC Energy Group from $108.00 to $104.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $102.50.
Insider Activity
In other news, EVP Robert M. Garvin sold 31,480 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.21, for a total transaction of $3,280,530.80. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 11,062 shares in the company, valued at $1,152,771.02. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Robert M. Garvin sold 31,480 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.21, for a total transaction of $3,280,530.80. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 11,062 shares in the company, valued at $1,152,771.02. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Anthony Reese sold 1,325 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.47, for a total value of $135,772.75. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 905 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $92,735.35. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 49,821 shares of company stock worth $5,189,283 over the last quarter. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.
