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

WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, July 18th, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 14th will be paid a dividend of 0.835 per share by the utilities provider on Sunday, September 1st. This represents a $3.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 14th.

WEC Energy Group has increased its dividend payment by an average of 7.2% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 22 years. WEC Energy Group has a payout ratio of 64.0% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect WEC Energy Group to earn $5.21 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 64.1%.

WEC Energy Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WEC opened at $87.98 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $27.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.21, a PEG ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $81.33 and a 200 day simple moving average of $80.94. WEC Energy Group has a one year low of $75.13 and a one year high of $92.23.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.04. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 15.85% and a return on equity of 12.26%. The firm had revenue of $1.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.87 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.92 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that WEC Energy Group will post 4.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at WEC Energy Group

In related news, VP Anthony Reese sold 1,362 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.78, for a total value of $120,918.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 1,462 shares in the company, valued at approximately $129,796.36. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, VP Anthony Reese sold 1,362 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.78, for a total value of $120,918.36. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 1,462 shares in the company, valued at approximately $129,796.36. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Joshua M. Erickson sold 350 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.75, for a total value of $31,412.50. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 2,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $213,335.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on WEC shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $93.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $80.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. KeyCorp dropped their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $96.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $87.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Scotiabank lowered their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $96.00 to $90.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $87.31.

About WEC Energy Group

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.