The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Buys Shares of 18,284 MGE Energy Inc. $MGEE

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company bought a new position in shares of MGE Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:MGEE) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 18,284 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,491,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its stake in shares of 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. Advisory Services Network LLC acquired a new position in MGE Energy during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $40,000. Avalon Trust Co acquired a new position in MGE Energy during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $49,000. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its stake in MGE Energy by 28.6% in the 3rd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 714 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $60,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in MGE Energy by 60.3% in the 2nd 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. Institutional investors own 52.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

MGE Energy Stock Performance

MGE Energy stock opened at $77.60 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $80.75 and a 200-day moving average of $78.70. The company has a market capitalization of $2.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.07 and a beta of 0.70. MGE Energy Inc. has a 1 year low of $72.16 and a 1 year high of $87.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 0.79.

MGE Energy (NASDAQ:MGEE) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.12. MGE Energy had a net margin of 19.45% and a return on equity of 11.10%. The business had revenue of $161.19 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $166.37 million. On average, equities research analysts predict that MGE Energy Inc. will post 3.99 earnings per share for the current year.

MGE Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.5083 per share. This represents a $2.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. This is a boost from MGE Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.47. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 1st. MGE Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.88%.

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.