Jefferies Financial Group Cuts WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) Price Target to $121.00

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) had its price objective decreased by Jefferies Financial Group from $124.00 to $121.00 in a research report released on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a hold rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Mizuho set a $125.00 price target on shares of WEC Energy Group in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Barclays increased their target price on WEC Energy Group from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $127.00 price target on shares of WEC Energy Group in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Wall Street Zen downgraded WEC Energy Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, November 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of WEC Energy Group in a report on Monday, December 29th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $120.33.

WEC Energy Group Stock Performance

NYSE WEC opened at $110.74 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $107.07 and its 200 day moving average price is $109.55. The company has a current ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. WEC Energy Group has a twelve month low of $96.37 and a twelve month high of $118.18. The company has a market capitalization of $36.02 billion, a PE ratio of 20.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.58.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.02. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 17.75% and a return on equity of 12.60%. The company had revenue of $2.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.86 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.82 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that WEC Energy Group will post 5.23 earnings per share for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 13th will be given a $0.9525 dividend. This represents a $3.81 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.4%. This is a positive change from WEC Energy Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.89. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 13th. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio is 67.49%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sigma Planning Corp increased its stake in WEC Energy Group by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Sigma Planning Corp now owns 12,338 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,304,000 after buying an additional 546 shares during the period. Joseph Group Capital Management grew its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 18.3% during the fourth quarter. Joseph Group Capital Management now owns 800 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $84,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. Turning Point Benefit Group Inc. increased its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 13.6% during the fourth quarter. Turning Point Benefit Group Inc. now owns 7,646 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $806,000 after acquiring an additional 916 shares during the last quarter. Ellenbecker Investment Group lifted its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 6.0% in the fourth quarter. Ellenbecker Investment Group now owns 21,324 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,249,000 after acquiring an additional 1,207 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Keybank National Association OH boosted its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 19.0% in the fourth quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 23,355 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,463,000 after purchasing an additional 3,729 shares during the last quarter. 77.20% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About WEC Energy Group

WEC Energy Group is a Milwaukee, Wisconsin–based regulated energy holding company whose primary businesses are the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity and the distribution of natural gas. The company operates through a set of utility subsidiaries that provide bundled energy service, customer billing and energy-related programs to residential, commercial and industrial customers. As a regulated utility group, WEC’s operations focus on delivering reliable service while managing infrastructure investment and compliance with state and federal utility regulation.

Its utility subsidiaries include well-known regional operators such as We Energies and Wisconsin Public Service, along with Chicago-area natural gas utilities that were part of the Integrys Energy Group acquisition.