Wells Fargo & Company Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) Stock

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) had its target price increased by research analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $112.00 to $115.00 in a note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “overweight” rating on the utilities provider’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 14.62% from the company’s current price.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on WEC. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Barclays upgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $89.00 to $93.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $97.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $90.00 to $98.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, WEC Energy Group has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $101.00.

WEC Energy Group Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:WEC traded up $1.11 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $100.33. 228,040 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,099,512. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $96.62 and a two-hundred day moving average of $94.89. WEC Energy Group has a 52-week low of $75.13 and a 52-week high of $102.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 0.65. The stock has a market cap of $31.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.49.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.49 by ($0.06). WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 11.72% and a net margin of 15.14%. The company had revenue of $2.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.50 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.10 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that WEC Energy Group will post 4.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other WEC Energy Group news, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 6,720 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.89, for a total transaction of $677,980.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 45,709 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,611,581.01. This trade represents a 12.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 40,269 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.56, for a total transaction of $4,009,181.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 273,248 shares in the company, valued at $27,204,570.88. The trade was a 12.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 48,794 shares of company stock worth $4,866,579. Insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On WEC Energy Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Czech National Bank boosted its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 64,388 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,193,000 after purchasing an additional 4,205 shares in the last quarter. Park Place Capital Corp boosted its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 108.5% in the 3rd quarter. Park Place Capital Corp now owns 2,212 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $213,000 after buying an additional 1,151 shares in the last quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group in the 3rd quarter worth about $285,000. Country Trust Bank raised its stake in WEC Energy Group by 14.4% in the 3rd quarter. Country Trust Bank now owns 324,761 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,236,000 after purchasing an additional 40,841 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC acquired a new position in WEC Energy Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $63,000. 77.20% of the stock is currently 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.