Barclays Upgrades WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) to “Equal Weight”

Barclays upgraded shares of WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) from an underweight rating to an equal weight rating in a research note released on Thursday morning, MarketBeat reports. Barclays currently has $93.00 price objective on the utilities provider’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $89.00.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of WEC Energy Group in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $102.00 price target on the stock. KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of 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 upgraded WEC Energy Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price target on WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $98.40.

WEC Energy Group Stock Down 0.2 %

NYSE WEC opened at $93.79 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $96.84 and its 200-day moving average price is $91.89. The company has a market capitalization of $29.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. WEC Energy Group has a 52 week low of $75.13 and a 52 week high of $102.79.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $1.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.93 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.00 EPS. WEC Energy Group’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that WEC Energy Group will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $0.8925 per share. This represents a $3.57 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.81%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This is a boost from WEC Energy Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 87.29%.

Insider Activity at WEC Energy Group

In other WEC Energy Group news, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 6,720 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 45,709 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,611,581.01. This represents a 12.82 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 1,805 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 273,248 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,160,851.20. This represents a 0.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 48,794 shares of company stock valued at $4,866,579 over the last quarter. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On WEC Energy Group

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Czech National Bank grew its stake 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 worth $6,193,000 after purchasing an additional 4,205 shares during the period. DRW Securities LLC purchased a new position in WEC Energy Group in the third quarter valued at $1,392,000. Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 51.0% in the third quarter. Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC now owns 29,978 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,883,000 after acquiring an additional 10,126 shares during the period. Atria Investments Inc boosted its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 13.8% during the 3rd quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 62,873 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,047,000 after acquiring an additional 7,646 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Verdence Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $532,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.