WEC Energy Group (WEC) Set to Announce Quarterly Earnings on Wednesday

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) will be posting its quarterly earnings results before the market opens on Wednesday, May 1st. Analysts expect WEC Energy Group to post earnings of $1.90 per share for the quarter. Persons that are interested in participating in the company’s earnings conference call can do so using this link.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.02. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 14.98% and a return on equity of 12.17%. The company had revenue of $2.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.82 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.80 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect WEC Energy Group to post $5 EPS for the current fiscal year and $5 EPS for the next fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Price Performance

WEC opened at $82.80 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $80.34 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $81.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.12 billion, a PE ratio of 19.62, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.40. WEC Energy Group has a 52 week low of $75.13 and a 52 week high of $97.34.

WEC Energy Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.835 per share. This represents a $3.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.03%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 13th. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 79.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Chairman Gale E. Klappa sold 37,180 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 274,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,622,595.58. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, Chairman Gale E. Klappa sold 37,180 shares of the business’s 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 directly owns 274,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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. Also, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 2,830 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.89, for a total value of $223,258.70. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 43,125 shares in the company, valued at $3,402,131.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.44% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WEC has been the topic of several analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Scotiabank reduced their price target on WEC Energy Group from $96.00 to $90.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated 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. Bank of America restated an “underperform” rating and set a $78.00 target price (down previously from $84.00) on shares of WEC Energy Group in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on WEC Energy Group from $79.00 to $75.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $86.64.

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.