Ieq Capital LLC Makes New $1.42 Million Investment in MGE Energy Inc. $MGEE

Ieq Capital LLC purchased a new stake in MGE Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:MGEE) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 17,404 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,419,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MGEE. Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its stake in shares of MGE Energy by 63.8% during the 4th quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 416 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 162 shares during the period. Advisory Services Network LLC acquired a new stake in MGE Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at $40,000. Avalon Trust Co acquired a new stake in MGE Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at $49,000. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its position in MGE Energy by 28.6% during the third quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 714 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares during the period. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of MGE Energy by 60.3% in the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 744 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 280 shares during the last quarter. 52.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded shares of MGE Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $81.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, June 8th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of MGE Energy from $76.00 to $74.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 21st. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of MGE Energy in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, MGE Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $77.50.

MGE Energy Trading Up 0.5%

MGEE stock opened at $79.39 on Thursday. 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 company’s 50-day simple moving average is $80.68 and its 200 day simple moving average is $78.81. MGE Energy Inc. has a 52 week low of $72.16 and a 52 week high of $88.01. The company has a market capitalization of $3.00 billion, a PE ratio of 19.51 and a beta of 0.71.

MGE Energy (NASDAQ:MGEE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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, sell-side analysts anticipate that MGE Energy Inc. will post 3.99 earnings per share for the current year.

MGE Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.5083 per share. This is a boost from MGE Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.47. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 1st. This represents a $2.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. MGE Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 46.68%.

About MGE Energy

MGE Energy, Inc is a public utility holding company headquartered in Madison, Wisconsin. Through its principal subsidiary, Madison Gas and Electric Company (MGE), the company provides regulated electric and natural gas distribution services to residential, commercial and industrial customers in south-central Wisconsin. MGE Energy’s operations encompass the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity as well as the purchase and distribution of natural gas, with an emphasis on reliable service and system resilience.

Since reorganizing as a holding company in 2001, MGE Energy has expanded its portfolio to include nonregulated subsidiaries involved in renewable energy development, energy services and infrastructure support.