WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) PT Raised to $96.00

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) had its target price hoisted by KeyCorp from $95.00 to $96.00 in a report released on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

WEC has been the subject of several other research reports. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $79.00 to $75.00 and set an underweight rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of WEC Energy Group from a neutral rating to an underweight rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $90.00 to $84.00 in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a sector perform rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $93.00 to $91.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Bank of America restated an underperform rating and issued a $78.00 price objective (down previously from $84.00) on shares of WEC Energy Group in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $86.64.

WEC Energy Group Stock Performance

Shares of WEC Energy Group stock opened at $81.97 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $79.86 and a two-hundred day moving average of $81.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.42, a PEG ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.40. WEC Energy Group has a 52 week low of $75.13 and a 52 week high of $98.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.55.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $2.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.82 billion. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 14.98% and a return on equity of 12.17%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.80 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that WEC Energy Group will post 4.88 EPS for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 14th will be paid a $0.835 dividend. This represents a $3.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.07%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 13th. WEC Energy Group’s payout ratio is presently 79.15%.

Insider Transactions at WEC Energy Group

In other news, Chairman Gale E. Klappa sold 37,180 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.69, for a total transaction of $2,925,694.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 274,782 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,622,595.58. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, Chairman Gale E. Klappa sold 37,180 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.69, for a total transaction of $2,925,694.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 274,782 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,622,595.58. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 2,830 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.89, for a total transaction of $223,258.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 43,125 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,402,131.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On WEC Energy Group

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of WEC. Northwest Bank & Trust Co bought a new position in WEC Energy Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in WEC Energy Group in the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners bought a new position in WEC Energy Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in WEC Energy Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, First United Bank & Trust bought a new position in WEC Energy Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. 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.