WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) have received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the nine ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $100.00.

A number of research firms have issued reports on WEC. StockNews.com raised WEC Energy Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on WEC Energy Group from $97.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. KeyCorp increased their price target on WEC Energy Group from $108.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Barclays raised WEC Energy Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $89.00 to $93.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 40,269 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.56, for a total transaction of $4,009,181.64. Following the transaction, the director now owns 273,248 shares in the company, valued at $27,204,570.88. This trade represents a 12.84 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 6,720 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.89, for a total value of $677,980.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 45,709 shares in the company, valued at $4,611,581.01. This represents a 12.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 48,794 shares of company stock worth $4,866,579 in the last quarter. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WEC. Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 106,685.0% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 26,000,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,500,680,000 after purchasing an additional 25,975,652 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 17,270.5% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,718,179 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $453,794,000 after purchasing an additional 4,691,017 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 102.6% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,776,071 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $362,971,000 after purchasing an additional 1,912,223 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 17.0% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,806,360 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $462,276,000 after purchasing an additional 699,177 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec grew its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 57.7% in the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 1,900,238 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $182,765,000 after purchasing an additional 695,317 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

WEC Energy Group Price Performance

WEC opened at $99.27 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $96.68 and its 200 day moving average price is $94.55. WEC Energy Group has a 12-month low of $75.13 and a 12-month high of $102.79. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. The firm has a market cap of $31.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.27, a PEG ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.48.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $1.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.93 billion. WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 11.72% and a net margin of 15.14%. WEC Energy Group’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.00 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that WEC Energy Group will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.835 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $3.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.36%. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 81.66%.

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.