MGE Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:MGEE) Stock Has Average Price Target of $76.00

Shares of MGE Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:MGEE) have earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the five brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have given a hold recommendation and one has assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $76.00.

A number of analysts have issued reports on MGEE shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on MGE Energy in a research note on Thursday. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $76.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley lowered 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. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of MGE Energy in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of MGE Energy in a report on Thursday, September 24th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $76.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of MGE Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 10th.

MGE Energy Price Performance

MGEE traded up $0.51 during trading on Thursday, reaching $71.83. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 7,214 shares, compared to its average volume of 218,299. The company has a market cap of $2.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.69, a PEG ratio of 3.97 and a beta of 0.69. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $75.63 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $77.53. MGE Energy has a 1 year low of $68.01 and a 1 year high of $87.94. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

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

MGE Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 1st were issued a $0.5083 dividend. This represents a $2.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.88%.

Institutional Trading of MGE Energy

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Avalon Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of MGE Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Highland Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in MGE Energy in the second quarter worth approximately $60,000. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in MGE Energy by 60.3% in 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 period. Johnson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in MGE Energy in the second quarter worth approximately $76,000. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc grew its position in MGE Energy by 41.3% in the second quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 1,308 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $107,000 after acquiring an additional 382 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 52.58% of the company’s stock.

MGE Energy Company Profile

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 generates, purchases, transmits, distributes and sells electricity, as well as distributes and sells natural gas.

MGE serves residential, commercial and industrial customers in Madison and surrounding communities in south-central Wisconsin. Its energy portfolio includes traditional generation resources along with investments in renewable energy, including wind and solar projects.