StockNews.com Upgrades WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) to “Hold”

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) was upgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a note issued to investors on Thursday.

Several other equities analysts have also recently commented on WEC. KeyCorp upped their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on WEC Energy Group from $89.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on WEC Energy Group from $93.00 to $91.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered WEC Energy Group from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $90.00 to $84.00 in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, WEC Energy Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $86.29.

WEC Energy Group Stock Performance

Shares of WEC Energy Group stock traded up $0.69 on Thursday, reaching $85.60. The stock had a trading volume of 1,542,679 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,117,048. The stock has a market cap of $27.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.40. WEC Energy Group has a fifty-two week low of $75.13 and a fifty-two week high of $95.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a current ratio of 0.55. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $81.09 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $81.46.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.97 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $2.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.92 billion. WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 13.01% and a net margin of 16.67%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.61 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that WEC Energy Group will post 4.87 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 2,830 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.89, for a total transaction of $223,258.70. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 43,125 shares in the company, valued at $3,402,131.25. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other WEC Energy Group news, Chairman Gale E. Klappa sold 37,180 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.69, for a total value of $2,925,694.20. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 274,782 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,622,595.58. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 2,830 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.89, for a total value of $223,258.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 43,125 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,402,131.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On WEC Energy Group

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dearborn Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 29.2% in the 4th quarter. Dearborn Partners LLC now owns 582,421 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $49,022,000 after purchasing an additional 131,797 shares during the last quarter. Vaughan David Investments LLC IL boosted its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Vaughan David Investments LLC IL now owns 428,408 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $36,059,000 after buying an additional 14,084 shares during the last quarter. abrdn plc grew its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 72.6% during the 4th quarter. abrdn plc now owns 129,890 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $10,933,000 after buying an additional 54,623 shares during the period. Annex Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 13.8% in the 3rd quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC now owns 205,489 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $16,552,000 after acquiring an additional 24,892 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Great Lakes Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC now owns 44,471 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,582,000 after acquiring an additional 1,010 shares during the period. Institutional investors 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.