WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at BTIG Research

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) was upgraded by research analysts at BTIG Research to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research firms have also commented on WEC. Scotiabank upped their target price on WEC Energy Group from $115.00 to $129.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 6th. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $110.00 to $123.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $114.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised WEC Energy Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 13th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded WEC Energy Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $118.83.

WEC Energy Group Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of NYSE:WEC opened at $117.39 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $110.99 and its two-hundred day moving average is $108.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.55. WEC Energy Group has a 1-year low of $91.94 and a 1-year high of $118.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 0.47.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, September 2nd. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter. The business had revenue of $2.28 billion during the quarter. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 17.87% and a return on equity of 12.90%. Equities analysts anticipate that WEC Energy Group will post 5.23 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other WEC Energy Group news, EVP Molly A. Mulroy sold 4,030 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.33, for a total value of $444,629.90. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 5,829 shares in the company, valued at approximately $643,113.57. The trade was a 40.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Daniel Krueger sold 5,930 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.14, for a total transaction of $659,060.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 6,606 shares in the company, valued at approximately $734,190.84. This trade represents a 47.30% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 68,448 shares of company stock valued at $7,581,132 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On WEC Energy Group

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in WEC Energy Group during the 1st quarter valued at $403,372,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 34.9% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,213,304 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $567,727,000 after purchasing an additional 1,349,522 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in WEC Energy Group by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 39,945,761 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,162,348,000 after buying an additional 816,243 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 16.6% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,103,604 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $556,191,000 after acquiring an additional 726,267 shares in the last quarter. Finally, T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 1,529.3% during the first quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 709,209 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $77,290,000 after acquiring an additional 665,681 shares in 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.