WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) Reaches New 52-Week High – Should You Buy?

WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $97.33 and last traded at $96.90, with a volume of 126672 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $96.30.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Bank of America boosted their price target on WEC Energy Group from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of WEC Energy Group in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $102.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com lowered WEC Energy Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Barclays boosted their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $86.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $90.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $94.00.

WEC Energy Group Price Performance

The company has a 50-day moving average of $93.73 and a 200 day moving average of $85.79. The firm has a market cap of $31.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.48 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.04. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 15.85% and a return on equity of 12.26%. The company had revenue of $1.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.87 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.92 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.87 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at WEC Energy Group

In other news, VP Mary Beth Straka sold 3,240 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, VP William J. Guc sold 6,000 shares of the company’s 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 $716,208.98. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $340,712.48. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 11,702 shares of company stock worth $1,078,058 over the last 90 days. 0.44% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of WEC Energy Group

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of WEC. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new position in WEC Energy Group in the fourth quarter valued at $2,639,000. Nomura Holdings Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $535,000. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV increased its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 23.3% in the first quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 2,477 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $203,000 after acquiring an additional 468 shares during the last quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. raised its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 16.8% during the first quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 2,982 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $245,000 after acquiring an additional 429 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank boosted its position in WEC Energy Group by 0.5% during the first quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 55,501 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,558,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.