MGE Energy (NASDAQ:MGEE) Research Coverage Started at Bank of America

Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of MGE Energy (NASDAQ:MGEE) in a research report sent to investors on Thursday, Marketbeat reports. The firm issued a neutral rating and a $76.00 target price on the utilities provider’s stock.

Several other analysts also recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of MGE Energy in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of MGE Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 19th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised shares of MGE Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $81.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, June 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of MGE Energy from $74.00 to $71.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $76.00.

MGE Energy Price Performance

Shares of MGEE stock opened at $70.06 on Thursday. MGE Energy has a fifty-two week low of $68.01 and a fifty-two week high of $87.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 1.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.21 and a beta of 0.70. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $78.42 and its 200-day simple moving average is $77.96.

MGE Energy (NASDAQ:MGEE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $161.19 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $166.37 million. MGE Energy had a net margin of 19.45% and a return on equity of 11.10%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that MGE Energy will post 4.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MGE Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 1st were issued a $0.5083 dividend. This represents a $2.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 1st. This is a positive change from MGE Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.4750. MGE Energy’s payout ratio is presently 49.88%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MGE Energy

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its holdings in MGE Energy by 63.8% in the 4th quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 416 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. Avalon Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of MGE Energy in the second quarter valued at about $49,000. Highland Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of MGE Energy in the second quarter worth about $60,000. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in MGE Energy by 60.3% during the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 744 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $61,000 after acquiring an additional 280 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Johnson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of MGE Energy in the second quarter valued at approximately $76,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 52.58% of the company’s stock.

About MGE Energy

MGE Energy, Inc is a public utility holding company headquartered in Madison, Wisconsin. Its principal subsidiary, Madison Gas and Electric Company (MG&E), provides electric and natural gas service to residential, commercial and industrial customers in south-central Wisconsin.

The company’s operations include generating, purchasing, transmitting and distributing electricity, as well as distributing natural gas. MGE Energy’s generation portfolio includes renewable resources such as wind and solar, along with other generation and purchased-power arrangements.