WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) Downgraded to “Sell” Rating by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen cut shares of WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note released on Monday morning,Wall Street Zen reports.

WEC has been the subject of several other reports. KeyCorp reduced their target price on WEC Energy Group from $126.00 to $117.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $120.00 to $117.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $122.00 to $114.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of WEC Energy Group from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 8th. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH lowered shares of WEC Energy Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $110.50 target price on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $121.91.

WEC Energy Group Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of WEC opened at $105.09 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 0.53. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $109.86 and a 200-day simple moving average of $112.88. WEC Energy Group has a 52 week low of $102.95 and a 52 week high of $119.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $34.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.47.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The utilities provider reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.11. WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 12.90% and a net margin of 16.69%.The business had revenue of $2.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.11 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.76 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. WEC Energy Group has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.510-5.610 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that WEC Energy Group will post 5.59 earnings per share for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Investors of record on Friday, August 14th were issued a dividend of $0.9525 per share. This represents a $3.81 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 14th. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 73.84%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Ulice Payne, Jr. sold 980 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.58, for a total value of $103,468.40. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 19,588 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,068,101.04. The trade was a 4.76% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of WEC Energy Group

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 11,738.1% in the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 44,289,343 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,171,667,000 after acquiring an additional 43,915,218 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,838,003 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $928,653,000 after purchasing an additional 88,557 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 175.0% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,357,608 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $354,093,000 after buying an additional 2,136,542 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 0.3% in the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,571,015 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $297,646,000 after acquiring an additional 7,206 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc bought a new stake in WEC Energy Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $299,100,000. Institutional investors own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

WEC Energy Group Company Profile

WEC Energy Group is a diversified energy holding company headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Through its utility subsidiaries, the company generates and distributes electricity and delivers natural gas to residential, commercial, and industrial customers.

WEC Energy Group serves customers primarily in Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, and Minnesota. Its operating companies include We Energies, Wisconsin Public Service, Upper Michigan Energy Resources, Minnesota Energy Resources, Michigan Gas Utilities, North Shore Gas, and Peoples Gas.