Brokerages Set WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) PT at $98.00

Shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) have been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the ten analysts that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $98.40.

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on WEC shares. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Barclays upgraded WEC Energy Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $89.00 to $93.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. StockNews.com upgraded WEC Energy Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America raised WEC Energy Group from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $90.00 to $98.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of WEC Energy Group in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “hold” rating and a $102.00 target price on the stock.

WEC Energy Group Stock Down 1.9 %

NYSE:WEC opened at $91.98 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $96.74 and a 200 day simple moving average of $92.18. WEC Energy Group has a 52-week low of $75.13 and a 52-week high of $102.79. The company has a market cap of $29.10 billion, a PE ratio of 22.49, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 0.65.

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

WEC Energy Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a $0.8925 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This is a positive change from WEC Energy Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. This represents a $3.57 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.88%. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 87.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other WEC Energy Group 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 value 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. The trade was a 12.82 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 1,805 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.40, for a total transaction of $179,417.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 273,248 shares in the company, valued at $27,160,851.20. This represents a 0.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 48,794 shares of company stock valued at $4,866,579. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On WEC Energy Group

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Czech National Bank lifted its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 64,388 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,193,000 after acquiring an additional 4,205 shares during the period. DRW Securities LLC bought a new stake in WEC Energy Group during the third quarter worth about $1,392,000. Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in WEC Energy Group by 51.0% during the third quarter. Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC now owns 29,978 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,883,000 after purchasing an additional 10,126 shares during the period. Atria Investments Inc grew its stake in WEC Energy Group by 13.8% during the third quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 62,873 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,047,000 after buying an additional 7,646 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Verdence Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in WEC Energy Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $532,000. 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.