The Goldman Sachs Group Downgrades WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) to Sell

The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) from a neutral rating to a sell rating in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has $100.00 price target on the utilities provider’s stock, down from their previous price target of $106.00.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on WEC. Wall Street Zen downgraded WEC Energy Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised WEC Energy Group from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $106.00 to $108.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Scotiabank set a $115.00 price target on WEC Energy Group and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on WEC Energy Group from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on WEC Energy Group from $99.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, WEC Energy Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $106.33.

WEC Energy Group Price Performance

WEC Energy Group stock opened at $103.09 on Wednesday. WEC Energy Group has a 12 month low of $77.47 and a 12 month high of $111.00. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $106.34 and its 200-day moving average is $103.16. The company has a current ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23. The company has a market capitalization of $32.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.10, a PEG ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.45.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $2.27 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.18 by $0.09. WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 12.94% and a net margin of 17.95%. The company had revenue of $3.15 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.81 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.97 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that WEC Energy Group will post 5.23 EPS for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 14th were paid a dividend of $0.8975 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 14th. This is a boost from WEC Energy Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. This represents a $3.59 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.48%. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 69.59%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other WEC Energy Group news, VP Joshua M. Erickson sold 2,155 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.77, for a total transaction of $232,244.35. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 2,686 shares in the company, valued at $289,470.22. This represents a 44.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of WEC. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 30.1% in the 4th quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,254 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $118,000 after acquiring an additional 290 shares during the last quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 9,527 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $896,000 after acquiring an additional 327 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 10.7% in the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 12,978 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,221,000 after acquiring an additional 1,250 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,261,706 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $212,691,000 after acquiring an additional 46,609 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advisor OS LLC lifted its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Advisor OS LLC now owns 3,222 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $303,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. 77.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.