WEC Energy Group, Inc. (WEC) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.90 on June 1st

WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, April 17th, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 14th will be given a dividend of 0.8975 per share by the utilities provider on Sunday, June 1st. This represents a $3.59 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.32%. This is a 7.5% increase from WEC Energy Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.84.

WEC Energy Group has raised its dividend by an average of 7.2% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 23 years. WEC Energy Group has a dividend payout ratio of 63.9% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect WEC Energy Group to earn $5.58 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.57 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 64.0%.

WEC Energy Group Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of WEC stock opened at $108.22 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. WEC Energy Group has a 12 month low of $77.47 and a 12 month high of $111.00. The stock has a market cap of $34.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $105.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $100.18.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.49 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $2.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.50 billion. WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 12.39% and a net margin of 17.75%. WEC Energy Group’s quarterly revenue was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.10 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that WEC Energy Group will post 5.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on WEC. Barclays upgraded 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 report on Thursday, January 2nd. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Wells Fargo & Company upped 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 report on Wednesday, February 5th. StockNews.com raised shares of WEC Energy Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded WEC Energy Group from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $106.00 to $108.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, WEC Energy Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $104.38.

Insider Buying and Selling at WEC Energy Group

In related news, Director Ulice Payne, Jr. sold 1,150 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.17, for a total value of $119,795.50. Following the sale, the director now owns 21,951 shares in the company, valued at $2,286,635.67. This represents a 4.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.62, for a total transaction of $2,715,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 274,955 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,865,612.10. This trade represents a 8.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.