WEC Energy (WEC) Stock Rises Ahead of Earnings Release

WEC Energy (WEC) shares climbed ahead of the release of the company's third quarter earnings results.
By Tony Owusu ,

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Shares of WEC Energy Group (WEC) - Get Report  rallied closing higher by 0.35% to $51.89 on Tuesday afternoon, after spending most of the day in negative territory, ahead of the release of its third quarter earnings results Wednesday morning.

The Milwaukee, WI-based energy company is expected to report third quarter earnings of 59 cents per share on revenue of $1.47 billion.

Those totals are up from the 56 cents per share on revenue of $1 billion the company earned for the same period last year.

The company has beaten analyst earnings expectations in three of the last four quarters.

Separately, TheStreet Ratings team rates WEC ENERGY GROUP INC as a Buy with a ratings score of A-. TheStreet Ratings Team has this to say about their recommendation:

We rate WEC ENERGY GROUP INC (WEC) a BUY. This is based on the convergence of positive investment measures, which should help this stock outperform the majority of stocks that we rate. 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 analysis by TheStreet Ratings Team goes as follows:

  • 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 analysis from the report here: WEC
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