WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) Sets New 1-Year High – Here’s Why

WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)’s share price reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $114.36 and last traded at $114.16, with a volume of 2120849 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $112.85.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WEC has been the subject of several analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of WEC Energy Group from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $106.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Wednesday, June 25th. UBS Group set a $107.00 price target on WEC Energy Group and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded WEC Energy Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 12th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $106.89.

WEC Energy Group Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.55. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $109.24 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $107.31. The stock has a market cap of $36.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 0.46.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $2.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.87 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.67 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter 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. Analysts forecast that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.23 earnings per share for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 14th were given a $0.8925 dividend. This represents a $3.57 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 14th. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 68.39%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Ulice Payne, Jr. sold 1,620 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.00, for a total transaction of $179,820.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 20,360 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,259,960. The trade was a 7.37% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 5,960 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.98, for a total transaction of $661,440.80. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 274,969 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,516,059.62. This represents a 2.12% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 68,448 shares of company stock valued at $7,581,132 in the last 90 days. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On WEC Energy Group

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in WEC Energy Group by 365.4% in the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 754 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $82,000 after purchasing an additional 592 shares during the period. NBC Securities Inc. acquired a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group in the 1st quarter valued at $81,000. Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 22.2% during the 1st quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 19,540 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,129,000 after acquiring an additional 3,549 shares during the period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 8.8% during the 1st quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 33,277 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,627,000 after acquiring an additional 2,691 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Triangle Securities Wealth Management boosted its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 6.2% during the 1st quarter. Triangle Securities Wealth Management now owns 7,822 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $852,000 after acquiring an additional 459 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

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.