WEC Energy Group (WEC) to Release Quarterly Earnings on Wednesday

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) is set to release its earnings data before the market opens on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors interested in registering for the company’s conference call can do so using this link.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $2.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.82 billion. WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 12.17% and a net margin of 14.98%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.80 earnings per share. 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 Energy Group stock opened at $81.97 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $79.97 and its 200 day simple moving average is $81.41. The stock has a market cap of $25.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.40. WEC Energy Group has a 12-month low of $75.13 and a 12-month high of $98.80. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29.

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 paid a $0.835 dividend. This represents a $3.34 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 13th. WEC Energy Group’s payout ratio is 79.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Bank of America restated an “underperform” rating and issued a $78.00 price target (down from $84.00) on shares of WEC Energy Group in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on WEC Energy Group from $93.00 to $91.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered WEC Energy Group from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $90.00 to $84.00 in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Scotiabank cut their target price on WEC Energy Group from $96.00 to $90.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.