WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) Sets New 52-Week High – Time to Buy?

WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) shares hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday. The stock traded as high as $120.15 and last traded at $119.5170, with a volume of 424,134 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $118.11.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Barclays dropped their price target on WEC Energy Group from $117.00 to $108.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 19th. BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $130.00 target price on shares of WEC Energy Group in a report on Friday, October 30th. Stephens set a $109.00 target price on shares of WEC Energy Group in a report on Friday, October 16th. BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating and set a $117.00 target price (down from $120.00) on shares of WEC Energy Group in a research report on Friday, October 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $121.00 to $116.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 13th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $118.00.

WEC Energy Group Stock Performance

The business’s fifty day moving average is $106.45 and its two-hundred day moving average is $111.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $38.64 billion, a PE ratio of 21.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.43.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.27 billion. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 17.54% and a return on equity of 13.49%. WEC Energy Group’s quarterly revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.83 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 13th will be issued a $0.9525 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 13th. This represents a $3.81 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. WEC Energy Group’s payout ratio is 69.15%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Ulice Payne, Jr. sold 980 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.58, for a total transaction of $103,468.40. Following the sale, the director directly owned 19,588 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,068,101.04. This represents a 4.76% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Diversify Advisory Services LLC increased its position in WEC Energy Group by 2.0% during the third quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,076 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $538,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. WPG Advisers LLC lifted its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 37.2% in the 3rd quarter. WPG Advisers LLC now owns 365 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. American State Bank Iowa lifted its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. American State Bank Iowa now owns 9,684 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $976,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Integrity Alliance LLC. boosted its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Integrity Alliance LLC. now owns 4,818 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $486,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the period. Finally, Hibernia Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 3.3% during the 1st quarter. Hibernia Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,367 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $390,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

WEC Energy Group Company Profile

WEC Energy Group, Inc is an energy holding company headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Through its operating companies, the company generates and delivers electricity and provides natural gas distribution, storage and related energy services to residential, commercial and industrial customers.

WEC Energy’s principal utility businesses include We Energies and Wisconsin Public Service in Wisconsin, Michigan Gas Utilities, Minnesota Energy Resources, Upper Michigan Energy Resources and North Dakota utility operations.