WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The utilities provider reported $1.97 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.07, Briefing.com reports. WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 12.17% and a net margin of 14.98%. The firm had revenue of $2.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.92 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.61 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. WEC Energy Group updated its FY24 guidance to $4.80-4.90 EPS.

WEC Energy Group Price Performance

Shares of WEC Energy Group stock traded up $0.33 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $82.92. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,168,810 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,132,554. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $80.50 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $81.43. WEC Energy Group has a 12-month low of $75.13 and a 12-month high of $96.17. The company has a market cap of $26.16 billion, a PE ratio of 19.64, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.55.

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 given a $0.835 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 13th. This represents a $3.34 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.03%. WEC Energy Group’s payout ratio is 79.15%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WEC has been the topic of several recent research reports. Barclays reduced their price target on WEC Energy Group from $79.00 to $75.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut 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. StockNews.com cut WEC Energy Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, January 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on WEC Energy Group in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $88.00 price objective for the company. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on WEC Energy Group from $89.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $86.29.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 2,830 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.89, for a total value of $223,258.70. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 43,125 shares in the company, valued at $3,402,131.25. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 2,830 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 43,125 shares in the company, valued at $3,402,131.25. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Chairman Gale E. Klappa sold 37,180 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.69, for a total transaction of $2,925,694.20. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 274,782 shares in the company, valued at $21,622,595.58. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.34% 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.