BMO Capital Markets Issues Positive Forecast for WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) Stock Price

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) had its price objective increased by BMO Capital Markets from $95.00 to $100.00 in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. BMO Capital Markets currently has a market perform rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. KeyCorp raised their price target on WEC Energy Group from $108.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. StockNews.com raised shares of WEC Energy Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $112.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Barclays upgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $89.00 to $93.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, WEC Energy Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $100.56.

WEC Energy Group Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of WEC opened at $101.00 on Wednesday. WEC Energy Group has a twelve month low of $75.13 and a twelve month high of $102.79. The stock has a market cap of $31.95 billion, a PE ratio of 24.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $96.62 and its 200-day moving average price is $94.89.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $2.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.50 billion. WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 11.72% and a net margin of 15.14%. The business’s revenue was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.10 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that WEC Energy Group will post 4.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Cuts 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 paid a dividend of $0.835 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $3.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.31%. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 81.66%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 40,269 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.56, for a total value of $4,009,181.64. Following the transaction, the director now owns 273,248 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,204,570.88. This trade represents a 12.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 6,720 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.89, for a total transaction of $677,980.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 45,709 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,611,581.01. This represents a 12.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 48,794 shares of company stock valued at $4,866,579. Insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of WEC Energy Group

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Coastline Trust Co purchased a new stake in WEC Energy Group in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Friedenthal Financial bought a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Human Investing LLC purchased a new stake in WEC Energy Group in the fourth quarter worth $52,000. Finally, Bank of Jackson Hole Trust bought a new stake in WEC Energy Group in the fourth quarter valued at $59,000. 77.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.