WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.84

WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, April 18th, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 14th will be paid a dividend of 0.835 per share by the utilities provider on Saturday, June 1st. This represents a $3.34 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.15%.

WEC Energy Group has increased its dividend payment by an average of 7.2% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 22 consecutive years. WEC Energy Group has a dividend payout ratio of 63.9% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect WEC Energy Group to earn $5.22 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.34 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 64.0%.

WEC Energy Group Trading Up 1.0 %

NYSE:WEC opened at $80.44 on Friday. WEC Energy Group has a twelve month low of $75.13 and a twelve month high of $98.80. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $79.70 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $81.31. The company has a market cap of $25.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.40.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Chairman Gale E. Klappa sold 37,180 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.69, for a total value 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other WEC Energy Group news, Chairman Gale E. Klappa sold 37,180 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.69, for a total value 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 2,830 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.89, for a total value of $223,258.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 43,125 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,402,131.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of WEC Energy Group

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quilter Plc acquired a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group during the first quarter valued at about $234,348,000. Achmea Investment Management B.V. acquired a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group during the first quarter valued at about $27,000. First Manhattan Co. lifted its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 102.0% in the fourth quarter. First Manhattan Co. now owns 303 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares during the period. Sunbelt Securities Inc. acquired a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group in the first quarter worth approximately $44,000. Finally, Quarry LP lifted its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 373.3% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 549 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 433 shares during the period. 77.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. KeyCorp increased their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $94.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $93.00 to $91.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on WEC Energy Group from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Barclays cut their price target on WEC Energy Group from $79.00 to $75.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on WEC Energy Group in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $88.00 price target for the company. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $86.31.

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.