Here's Why You Should Add WEC Energy Stock to Your Portfolio Now

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 an 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 0.2% to $5.24 in the past 30 days.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2025 sales is pinned at $9.39 billion, indicating a year-over-year increase of 9.2%.

WEC Energy’s long-term (three to five years) earnings growth rate is 6.79%. The company delivered a trailing four-quarter average earnings surprise of 6.3%.

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 12.39%, higher than the industry’s average of 9.77%. This indicates that the company has been utilizing the funds more constructively than its peers in the utility electric power industry.

WEC’s Solvency

The time-to-interest earned ratio at the end of the fourth quarter of 2024 was 3.1. 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. WEC’s board of directors approved a dividend payment for the 328th consecutive quarter and 22nd consecutive year with higher dividends. Currently, the company’s quarterly dividend is 89.25 cents per share. This resulted in an annualized dividend of $3.57 per share. WEC expects to maintain a dividend payout ratio of 65-70% and plans to grow its dividend in the band of 6-7%. Its current dividend yield is 3.28%, better than the Zacks S&P 500 composite’s 1.3%.

WEC’s Focus on Clean Energy

Between 2025 and 2029, the company plans to invest $28 billion, with $9.1 billion allocated to 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 4.4 GW. This includes solar generation of 2.9 GW, with an investment of $5.5 billion, battery storage of 565 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 three months, the stock has returned 18.1% compared with the industry’s growth of 6.8%.

Other Stocks to Consider

A few other top-ranked stocks from the same industry are Avista AVA, sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) at present, and CMS Energy CMS and Exelon Corporation EXC, both carrying a Zacks Rank #2. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

AVA’s long-term earnings growth rate is 6.07%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for AVA’s 2025 EPS implies a year-over-year improvement of 14%.

CMS’ long-term earnings growth rate is 7.68%. The company delivered an average earnings surprise of 4.8% in the past four quarters.

EXC’s long-term earnings growth rate is 5.71%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2025 EPS implies a year-over-year increase of 6%.

 

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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