WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) Hits New 12-Month High – What’s Next?

Shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $100.47 and last traded at $100.44, with a volume of 619228 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $99.27.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on WEC. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $90.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Barclays boosted their target price 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. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on WEC Energy Group from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $94.45.

WEC Energy Group Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $31.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 0.65. The company has a 50-day moving average of $96.48 and a 200-day moving average of $88.64.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last released its 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 firm had revenue of $1.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 revenue was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.00 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 14th will be given a $0.835 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $3.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.31%. WEC Energy Group’s payout ratio is currently 81.66%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other WEC Energy Group news, VP Mary Beth Straka sold 3,240 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.04, for a total transaction of $301,449.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 3,662 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $340,712.48. The trade was a 46.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP William J. Guc sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.99, for a total value of $557,940.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 7,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $716,208.98. The trade was a 43.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 11,045 shares of company stock worth $1,038,807 in the last three months. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of WEC Energy Group

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 58.1% during the second quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 321 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Olistico Wealth LLC bought a new stake in WEC Energy Group during the second quarter valued at about $29,000. Coastline Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group in the third quarter valued at about $29,000. William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group in the second quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Triad Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group during the second quarter worth approximately $36,000. 77.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.