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

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

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Scotiabank increased their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $90.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on WEC Energy Group in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $102.00 target price on the stock. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, WEC Energy Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $94.45.

WEC Energy Group Trading Up 0.0 %

NYSE WEC opened at $95.57 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $95.55 and a two-hundred day moving average of $87.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.21 billion, a PE ratio of 23.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.44. WEC Energy Group has a 52 week low of $75.13 and a 52 week high of $100.31.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $1.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.93 billion. WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 11.72% and a net margin of 15.14%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.00 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that WEC Energy Group will post 4.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 approximately $340,712.48. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, VP William J. Guc sold 6,000 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.99, for a total value of $557,940.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 7,702 shares in the company, valued at approximately $716,208.98. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Mary Beth Straka sold 3,240 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.04, for a total transaction of $301,449.60. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 3,662 shares in the company, valued at approximately $340,712.48. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 11,702 shares of company stock valued at $1,078,058. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of WEC. 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 acquiring an additional 688,812 shares during the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 36.0% in the 1st quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,748,141 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $143,557,000 after purchasing an additional 462,646 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 151.7% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 583,990 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $56,168,000 after acquiring an additional 351,972 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 10,220.1% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 303,515 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,192,000 after purchasing an additional 300,574 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC purchased a new stake in WEC Energy Group during the first quarter valued at about $23,297,000. Institutional investors own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

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.