WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) Increases Dividend to $0.89 Per Share

WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, December 5th,RTT News reports. Investors of record on Thursday, December 5th will be given a dividend of 0.8925 per share by the utilities provider on Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $3.57 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.65%. This is an increase from WEC Energy Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.84.

WEC Energy Group has increased its dividend payment by an average of 7.2% annually over the last three years and has raised 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. 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 Trading Down 0.6 %

WEC traded down $0.63 on Thursday, reaching $97.72. 1,387,514 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,126,094. The company’s 50 day moving average is $97.57 and its 200-day moving average is $89.74. The company has a market cap of $30.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.05, a PEG ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.46. WEC Energy Group has a twelve month low of $75.13 and a twelve month 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.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $1.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.93 billion. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 15.14% and a return on equity of 11.72%. The company’s revenue was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.00 EPS. Equities analysts predict that WEC Energy Group will post 4.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WEC has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded WEC Energy Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays upped their price target on WEC Energy Group from $86.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Bank of America upped their price target on WEC Energy Group from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Scotiabank upped their price target on WEC Energy Group from $90.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $95.55.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 6,720 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.89, for a total value of $677,980.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 45,709 shares in the company, valued at $4,611,581.01. This trade represents a 12.82 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 1,805 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.40, for a total value of $179,417.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 273,248 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,160,851.20. This trade represents a 0.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 48,794 shares of company stock worth $4,866,579. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.