KeyCorp Raises WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) Price Target to $103.00

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) had its price objective upped by KeyCorp from $98.00 to $103.00 in a report issued on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on WEC. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $80.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an underweight rating in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $90.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a sector outperform rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of WEC Energy Group in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a hold rating and a $102.00 target price for the company. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded WEC Energy Group from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $91.69.

WEC Energy Group Stock Performance

NYSE:WEC opened at $96.26 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. The company has a market capitalization of $30.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.44. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $91.95 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $84.74. WEC Energy Group has a twelve month low of $75.13 and a twelve month high of $97.08.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $1.77 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.87 billion. WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 12.26% and a net margin of 15.85%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.92 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that WEC Energy Group will post 4.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 14th were issued a dividend of $0.835 per share. This represents a $3.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.47%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 14th. WEC Energy Group’s payout ratio is currently 72.93%.

Insider Activity at WEC Energy Group

In other news, VP Mary Beth Straka sold 3,240 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.04, for a total value of $301,449.60. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 3,662 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $340,712.48. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, VP Mary Beth Straka sold 3,240 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.04, for a total value of $301,449.60. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 3,662 shares in the company, valued at $340,712.48. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Ulice Payne, Jr. sold 750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.45, for a total value of $66,337.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 21,876 shares in the company, valued at $1,934,932.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 11,702 shares of company stock worth $1,078,058. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Confluence Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in WEC Energy Group during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $127,945,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 93.3% during the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,665,038 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $140,146,000 after buying an additional 803,718 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 36.7% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,566,001 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $201,328,000 after buying an additional 688,812 shares in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 36.0% in the first quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,748,141 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $143,557,000 after buying an additional 462,646 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group in the first quarter worth $23,297,000. 77.20% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.