WEC Energy Group’s WEC ongoing investments in infrastructure projects, systematic acquisitions and focus on clean energy boost its overall performance. The company also gains from expanding customer base. Given its growth opportunities, WEC makes for a solid investment option in the utility sector.
Let’s focus on the factors that make this Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) company a strong investment pick at the moment.
WEC’s Growth Projections & Surprise History
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2025 earnings per share (EPS) has increased 0.6% to $5.24 in the past 30 days.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2025 sales is pinned at $9.46 billion, indicating a year-over-year increase of 5.4%.
WEC Energy’s long-term (three to five years) earnings growth rate is 7.55%. The company delivered a trailing four-quarter average earnings surprise of 6.5%.
WEC’s Return on Equity
ROE indicates how efficiently a company has been utilizing the funds to generate higher returns. Currently, WEC Energy’s ROE is 11.72%, higher than the industry’s average of 11.05%. This indicates that the company has been utilizing the funds more constructively than its peers in the utility electric power industry.
Debt Position of WEC
Currently, WEC Energy’s total debt to capital is 60.91%, better than the industry’s average of 61.32%.
The time-to-interest earned ratio at the end of the third quarter of 2024 was 2.9. The ratio, being greater than one, reflects the company’s ability to meet future interest obligations without difficulties.
WEC’s Dividend Growth
The company has been consistently increasing the value of its shareholders through dividends. In December 2024, the company announced its plan to increase dividends by 6.9%. The new quarterly dividend will be 89.25 cents per share compared with the previous quarter’s 83.5 cents. The increased dividend rate resulted in an annualized dividend of $3.57 per share. This hike is in sync with the company’s ongoing plan targeting a dividend payout ratio of 65-70% of earnings. Its current dividend yield is 3.52%, better than the Zacks S&P 500 composite's average of 1.2%.
WEC’s Focus on Clean Energy
During 2025-2029, WEC plans to invest $27.6 billion, out of which $9.1 billion will be invested in regulated renewable projects. The idea is to further strengthen WEC Energy’s renewable portfolio. During the same period, WEC plans to build and own nearly 4.3 gigawatt (GW). This includes solar generation of 2.9 GW (with an investment of $5.5 billion), battery storage of 565 megawatt (MW) (with an investment of $0.9 billion) and wind generation of 900 MW (with an investment of $2.7 billion).
WEC’s Stock Price Performance
In the past six months, the stock has returned 22% compared with the industry’s growth of 7.6%.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Other Stocks to Consider
A few other top-ranked stocks from the same industry are Vistra VST, sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) at present, and NiSource NI and CenterPoint Energy CNP, both carrying a Zacks Rank #2. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
VST’s long-term earnings growth rate is 17.4%. It delivered an average earnings surprise of 7.1% for the trailing four quarters.
NI’s long-term earnings growth rate is 7.45%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for NI’s 2025 EPS implies a year-over-year improvement of 7.3%.
CNP’s long-term earnings growth rate is 7.1%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2025 EPS implies a year-over-year increase of 7.3%.
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