Zacks Research Weighs in on WEC Energy Group, Inc.’s Q1 2024 Earnings (NYSE:WEC)

WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) – Investment analysts at Zacks Research issued their Q1 2024 earnings estimates for WEC Energy Group in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, April 25th. Zacks Research analyst R. Department expects that the utilities provider will earn $1.85 per share for the quarter. The consensus estimate for WEC Energy Group’s current full-year earnings is $4.87 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for WEC Energy Group’s Q3 2025 earnings at $0.92 EPS.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of WEC Energy Group from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $90.00 to $84.00 in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $96.00 to $90.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 22nd. KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. StockNews.com cut shares of WEC Energy Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, January 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $93.00 to $91.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, WEC Energy Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $86.64.

WEC Energy Group Stock Down 1.6 %

WEC stock opened at $81.49 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. WEC Energy Group has a fifty-two week low of $75.13 and a fifty-two week high of $97.34. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $80.25 and its 200 day simple moving average is $81.41. The stock has a market cap of $25.70 billion, a PE ratio of 19.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.40.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.02. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 14.98% and a return on equity of 12.17%. The company had revenue of $2.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.82 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.80 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year.

WEC Energy Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 14th will be paid a $0.835 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 13th. This represents a $3.34 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.10%. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 79.15%.

Insider Transactions at WEC Energy Group

In other news, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 2,830 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 43,125 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,402,131.25. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, Chairman Gale E. Klappa sold 37,180 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.69, for a total value of $2,925,694.20. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 274,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,622,595.58. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 2,830 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 43,125 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,402,131.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Portside Wealth Group LLC increased its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 1.2% in the third quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC now owns 10,374 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $837,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Balentine LLC increased its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 2.7% in the third quarter. Balentine LLC now owns 4,899 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $395,000 after acquiring an additional 131 shares in the last quarter. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC now owns 36,086 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,037,000 after acquiring an additional 132 shares in the last quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. increased its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 2.0% in the first quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 6,869 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $564,000 after acquiring an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Diversified Trust Co increased its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 2.7% in the first quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 5,099 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $419,000 after acquiring an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. 77.20% of the stock is 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.