WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report published on Sunday morning.

A number of other research firms have also recently issued reports on WEC. Barclays boosted their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $99.00 to $101.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded WEC Energy Group from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $106.00 to $108.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut WEC Energy Group from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $106.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 25th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Scotiabank set a $115.00 price objective on WEC Energy Group and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, WEC Energy Group has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $106.33.

WEC Energy Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WEC opened at $104.74 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23. The business’s 50 day moving average is $106.19 and its two-hundred day moving average is $103.34. The company has a market cap of $33.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.44. WEC Energy Group has a 12 month low of $77.47 and a 12 month high of $111.00.

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

WEC Energy Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 14th were paid a $0.8975 dividend. This is a positive change from WEC Energy Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 14th. This represents a $3.59 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.43%. WEC Energy Group’s payout ratio is currently 69.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Joshua M. Erickson sold 2,155 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.77, for a total value of $232,244.35. Following the sale, the vice president owned 2,686 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $289,470.22. The trade was a 44.52% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of WEC Energy Group

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Marcum Wealth LLC boosted its stake in WEC Energy Group by 1.3% in the first quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC now owns 7,416 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $808,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in WEC Energy Group by 14.3% in the first quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 744 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $81,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Clean Yield Group boosted its stake in WEC Energy Group by 12.6% in the first quarter. Clean Yield Group now owns 867 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $94,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. MJP Associates Inc. ADV boosted its stake in WEC Energy Group by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. MJP Associates Inc. ADV now owns 3,019 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $284,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in WEC Energy Group by 3.0% in the first quarter. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,335 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $363,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.