WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) Price Target Raised to $104.00

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) had its target price increased by BMO Capital Markets from $97.00 to $104.00 in a research report released on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a market perform rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on WEC. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. StockNews.com raised shares of WEC Energy Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $86.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $95.55.

WEC Energy Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WEC opened at $98.35 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $31.11 billion, a PE ratio of 24.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.46. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $97.57 and a 200-day moving average price of $89.74. WEC Energy Group has a 1 year low of $75.13 and a 1 year high of $102.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.46.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $1.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.93 billion. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 15.14% and a return on equity of 11.72%. WEC Energy Group’s quarterly revenue was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.00 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that WEC Energy Group will post 4.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 14th were issued a $0.835 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $3.34 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.40%. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 81.66%.

Insider Transactions at WEC Energy Group

In related news, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 6,720 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.89, for a total transaction of $677,980.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 45,709 shares in the company, valued at $4,611,581.01. This trade represents a 12.82 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 40,269 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.56, for a total transaction of $4,009,181.64. Following the sale, the director now owns 273,248 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,204,570.88. The trade was a 12.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 48,794 shares of company stock worth $4,866,579. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. increased its position in WEC Energy Group by 58.1% during the 2nd quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 321 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the period. Olistico Wealth LLC purchased a new position in WEC Energy Group during the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,000. Coastline Trust Co purchased a new position in WEC Energy Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in WEC Energy Group during the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Triad Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in WEC Energy Group during the 2nd quarter valued at about $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.