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

WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) has received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the ten analysts that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have assigned a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $98.40.

A number of research analysts have weighed in on WEC shares. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $97.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on WEC Energy Group in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “hold” rating and a $102.00 target price for the company. KeyCorp lifted their price target on WEC Energy Group from $108.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Scotiabank increased their price objective on 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 raised shares of WEC Energy Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $89.00 to $93.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other WEC Energy Group news, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 1,805 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.40, for a total value of $179,417.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 273,248 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,160,851.20. This trade represents a 0.66 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 6,720 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 45,709 shares in the company, valued at $4,611,581.01. This trade represents a 12.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 48,794 shares of company stock worth $4,866,579 in the last quarter. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On WEC Energy Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its position in WEC Energy Group by 106,685.0% in the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 26,000,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,500,680,000 after purchasing an additional 25,975,652 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted 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 position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 102.6% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,776,071 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $362,971,000 after buying an additional 1,912,223 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 17.0% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,806,360 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $462,276,000 after buying an additional 699,177 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lifted its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 57.7% in the third 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 buying an additional 695,317 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

WEC Energy Group Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of WEC stock opened at $94.78 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $96.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is $92.30. WEC Energy Group has a twelve month low of $75.13 and a twelve month high of $102.79. 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 market capitalization of $29.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.17, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.48.

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

WEC Energy Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $0.8925 dividend. This represents a $3.57 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This is an increase from WEC Energy Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. WEC Energy Group’s payout ratio is currently 87.29%.

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.