KeyCorp Raises WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) Price Target to $98.00

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) had its price target upped by KeyCorp from $95.00 to $98.00 in a report issued on Monday, Benzinga reports. KeyCorp currently has an overweight rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on WEC. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $80.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an underweight rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $98.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. StockNews.com cut shares of WEC Energy Group from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Bank of America increased their target price on WEC Energy Group from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an underperform rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on WEC Energy Group from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $90.42.

WEC Energy Group Stock Performance

Shares of WEC opened at $95.25 on Monday. WEC Energy Group has a 1 year low of $75.13 and a 1 year high of $96.65. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $89.21 and its 200 day simple moving average is $83.75. The company has a market capitalization of $30.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.80, a PEG ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.74.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $1.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.87 billion. WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 12.26% and a net margin of 15.85%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.92 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that WEC Energy Group will post 4.88 EPS for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 14th were given a dividend of $0.835 per share. This represents a $3.34 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 14th. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 72.93%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Mary Beth Straka sold 3,240 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.04, for a total transaction of $301,449.60. Following 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, VP Mary Beth Straka sold 3,240 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The stock was 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 directly owns 3,662 shares in the company, valued at $340,712.48. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Anthony Reese sold 1,362 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.78, for a total value of $120,918.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 1,462 shares in the company, valued at approximately $129,796.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 11,702 shares of company stock worth $1,078,058 in the last 90 days. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On WEC Energy Group

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Alley Investment Management Company LLC lifted its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 324.5% during the 4th quarter. Alley Investment Management Company LLC now owns 39,256 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,304,000 after buying an additional 30,009 shares during the last quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC raised its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 34.0% during the 4th quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 37,561 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,162,000 after acquiring an additional 9,526 shares in the last quarter. Lantz Financial LLC lifted its stake in WEC Energy Group by 324.9% during the first quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 28,454 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,337,000 after purchasing an additional 21,758 shares during the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd boosted its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 18.2% in the fourth quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 38,980 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,282,000 after purchasing an additional 5,994 shares during the period. Finally, Brookstone Capital Management increased its stake in WEC Energy Group by 789.0% during the first quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 125,219 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $10,283,000 after purchasing an additional 111,134 shares during the last quarter. 77.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.