Morgan Stanley Raises MGE Energy (NASDAQ:MGEE) Price Target to $68.00

MGE Energy (NASDAQ:MGEE) had its price objective raised by Morgan Stanley from $63.00 to $68.00 in a research report report published on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an underweight rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on MGEE. TheStreet lowered shares of MGE Energy from a b rating to a c+ rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of MGE Energy from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report on Monday, May 20th.

MGE Energy Stock Performance

MGEE opened at $80.13 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $2.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.14 and a beta of 0.72. MGE Energy has a 1-year low of $61.94 and a 1-year high of $83.27. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $78.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $73.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 1.59 and a quick ratio of 1.09.

MGE Energy (NASDAQ:MGEE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $191.34 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $221.46 million. MGE Energy had a return on equity of 10.60% and a net margin of 18.12%. Equities analysts forecast that MGE Energy will post 3.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MGE Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 15th. Investors of record on Saturday, June 1st will be given a dividend of $0.428 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 31st. This represents a $1.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.14%. MGE Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 51.51%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director James G. Berbee bought 458 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $82.16 per share, for a total transaction of $37,629.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 9,725 shares in the company, valued at $799,006. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.19% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MGE Energy

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in MGE Energy by 12.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,699,072 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $369,911,000 after purchasing an additional 518,466 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in MGE Energy by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,229,511 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $88,906,000 after purchasing an additional 60,190 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in MGE Energy by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 759,044 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $54,887,000 after purchasing an additional 7,085 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in MGE Energy by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 378,940 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,401,000 after purchasing an additional 5,544 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in MGE Energy by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 346,922 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $25,086,000 after purchasing an additional 10,822 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 52.58% of the company’s stock.

About MGE Energy

MGE Energy, Inc, through its subsidiaries, operates as a public utility holding company primarily in the United States. It operates through Regulated Electric Utility Operations; Regulated Gas Utility Operations; Nonregulated Energy Operations; Transmission Investments; and All Other segments. The company generates, purchases, and distributes electricity and natural gas in Wisconsin and Iowa; owns and leases electric generating capacity; and plans, constructs, operates, maintains, and expands transmission facilities to provide transmission power services.