WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) Rating Increased to Neutral at Bank of America

Bank of America upgraded shares of WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) from an underperform rating to a neutral rating in a research report released on Thursday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has $98.00 target price on the utilities provider’s stock, up from their prior target price of $90.00.

Several other brokerages have also weighed in on WEC. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price 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. Barclays boosted their price target on WEC Energy Group from $86.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $97.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of WEC Energy Group in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $102.00 target price for the company. Finally, KeyCorp raised their price target 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $96.91.

WEC Energy Group Price Performance

NYSE WEC opened at $95.79 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $97.67 and a 200-day simple moving average of $90.28. 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 released its 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 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 the consensus estimate of $1.93 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.00 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that WEC Energy Group will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders 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 represents a $3.57 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.73%. This is an increase from WEC Energy Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 87.29%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 40,269 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.56, for a total transaction of $4,009,181.64. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 273,248 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,204,570.88. The trade was a 12.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 6,720 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.89, for a total transaction of $677,980.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 45,709 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,611,581.01. The trade was a 12.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 48,794 shares of company stock worth $4,866,579. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Czech National Bank lifted its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 64,388 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,193,000 after purchasing an additional 4,205 shares during the period. DRW Securities LLC acquired a new position in WEC Energy Group in the third quarter valued at about $1,392,000. Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings 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 buying an additional 10,126 shares during the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc grew its position 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 buying an additional 7,646 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 2,949.7% in the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 232,018 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $18,204,000 after acquiring an additional 224,410 shares during the last quarter. 77.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.