Barbarian At The Gate: WEC Energy Group (WEC)
Trade-Ideas LLC identified
(
) as a "barbarian at the gate" (strong stocks crossing above resistance with today's range greater than 200%) candidate. In addition to specific proprietary factors, Trade-Ideas identified WEC Energy Group as such a stock due to the following factors:
- WEC has an average dollar-volume (as measured by average daily share volume multiplied by share price) of $86.1 million.
- WEC has traded 197,137 shares today.
- WEC traded in a range 220.3% of the normal price range with a price range of $1.75.
- WEC traded above its daily resistance level (quality: 11 days, meaning that the stock is crossing a resistance level set by the last 11 calendar days. The resistance price is defined by the Price - $0.01 at the time of the signal).
Stocks matching the 'Barbarian at the Gate' criteria are worthwhile stocks to watch for a variety of factors including historical back testing and volatility. Trade-Ideas targets these opportunities because the stock is exhibiting an unusual behavior while displaying positive price action. In this case, the stock crossed an important inflection point; namely, 'resistance' while at the same time the range of the stock's movement in price is more than twice its normal size. This large range foreshadows a possible continuation as the stock moves higher.
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More details on WEC:
WEC Energy Group, Inc., through its subsidiaries, generates and distributes electric energy. The company operates in two segments, Utility Energy and Non-Utility Energy. It generates electricity from coal, natural gas, oil, hydroelectric, wind, and biomass. The stock currently has a dividend yield of 3.4%. WEC has a PE ratio of 22. Currently there are 5 analysts that rate WEC Energy Group a buy, 1 analyst rates it a sell, and 5 rate it a hold.
The average volume for WEC Energy Group has been 2.2 million shares per day over the past 30 days. WEC Energy Group has a market cap of $16.3 billion and is part of the utilities sector and utilities industry. The stock has a beta of 0.25 and a short float of 5.4% with 7.49 days to cover. Shares are down 1.6% year-to-date as of the close of trading on Tuesday.
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Analysis:
rates WEC Energy Group as a
. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its good cash flow from operations and solid stock price performance. We feel its strengths outweigh the fact that the company has had sub par growth in net income.
Highlights from the ratings report include:
- WEC ENERGY GROUP INC's earnings per share declined by 39.6% in the most recent quarter compared to the same quarter a year ago. This company has reported somewhat volatile earnings recently. But, we feel it is poised for EPS growth in the coming year. During the past fiscal year, WEC ENERGY GROUP INC increased its bottom line by earning $2.58 versus $2.51 in the prior year. This year, the market expects an improvement in earnings ($2.72 versus $2.58).
- Net operating cash flow has increased to $386.20 million or 14.87% when compared to the same quarter last year. Despite an increase in cash flow, WEC ENERGY GROUP INC's cash flow growth rate is still lower than the industry average growth rate of 29.13%.
- Regardless of the drop in revenue, the company managed to outperform against the industry average of 8.3%. Since the same quarter one year prior, revenues slightly dropped by 5.0%. Weakness in the company's revenue seems to have hurt the bottom line, decreasing earnings per share.
- Compared to where it was a year ago today, the stock is now trading at a higher level, regardless of the company's weak earnings results. The stock's price rise over the last year has driven it to a level which is somewhat expensive compared to the rest of its industry. We feel, however, that other strengths this company displays justify these higher price levels.
- The gross profit margin for WEC ENERGY GROUP INC is currently lower than what is desirable, coming in at 33.90%. Regardless of WEC's low profit margin, it has managed to increase from the same period last year. Despite the mixed results of the gross profit margin, the net profit margin of 8.16% trails the industry average.
- You can view the full WEC Energy Group Ratings Report.
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