WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) Updates Q1 Earnings Guidance

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) updated its first quarter earnings guidance on Tuesday. The company provided earnings per share guidance of $1.89-1.91 for the period, compared to the consensus earnings per share estimate of $1.79. WEC Energy Group also updated its FY24 guidance to $4.80-4.90 EPS.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered WEC Energy Group from a neutral rating to an underweight rating and decreased their target price for the company from $90.00 to $84.00 in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Barclays cut their price target on WEC Energy Group from $79.00 to $75.00 and set an underweight rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 8th. KeyCorp boosted their target price on WEC Energy Group from $94.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on WEC Energy Group from $93.00 to $91.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Mizuho dropped their target price on WEC Energy Group from $88.00 to $86.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 18th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $86.17.

WEC Energy Group Stock Performance

Shares of WEC stock opened at $79.90 on Tuesday. 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 has a 1 year low of $75.13 and a 1 year high of $99.26. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $79.56 and its two-hundred day moving average is $81.81. The firm has a market cap of $25.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.93, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.40.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.02. WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 12.17% and a net margin of 14.98%. The firm had revenue of $2.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.82 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.80 EPS. WEC Energy Group’s revenue was down 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that WEC Energy Group will post 4.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at WEC Energy Group

In other WEC Energy Group news, Chairman Gale E. Klappa sold 37,180 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.69, for a total value of $2,925,694.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 274,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,622,595.58. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 2,830 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.89, for a total value of $223,258.70. Following the completion of the sale, 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 available at this link. Also, Chairman Gale E. Klappa sold 37,180 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.69, for a total value of $2,925,694.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 274,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,622,595.58. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On WEC Energy Group

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of WEC. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its stake in WEC Energy Group by 563.3% in the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,320,077 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $131,757,000 after acquiring an additional 1,121,075 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its stake in WEC Energy Group by 146.0% in the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 1,257,505 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $105,843,000 after acquiring an additional 746,385 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in WEC Energy Group by 17.4% in the 4th quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,623,530 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $304,993,000 after acquiring an additional 536,684 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its position in WEC Energy Group by 153.0% in the 1st quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 678,057 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $67,677,000 after purchasing an additional 410,082 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased its position in WEC Energy Group by 9.4% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,236,416 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $303,446,000 after purchasing an additional 277,337 shares during the last quarter. 77.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.