Bank of America Initiates Coverage on MGE Energy (NASDAQ:MGEE)

Key Points

• Bank of America initiated coverage of MGE Energy with a “neutral” rating and a $76 price target, implying approximately 7.25% upside from the prior close.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed, with one Buy, two Hold, and one Sell ratings; the consensus view is “Hold” with a $76 target price.
• MGE Energy reported quarterly EPS of $0.89, exceeding the $0.77 consensus estimate, while revenue of $161.19 million fell short of expectations.

Research analysts at Bank of America began coverage on shares of MGE Energy (NASDAQ:MGEE - Get Free Report) in a research note issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage set a "neutral" rating and a $76.00 price target on the utilities provider's stock. Bank of America's price target points to a potential upside of 7.25% from the company's previous close.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of MGE Energy in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded shares of MGE Energy from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $81.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Wall Street Zen lowered MGE Energy from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, September 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on MGE Energy from $74.00 to $71.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $76.00.

MGE Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MGEE opened at $70.86 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The business's fifty day moving average price is $78.91 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $78.10. MGE Energy has a fifty-two week low of $70.71 and a fifty-two week high of $87.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.41 and a beta of 0.70.

MGE Energy (NASDAQ:MGEE - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $166.37 million. MGE Energy had a net margin of 19.45% and a return on equity of 11.10%. As a group, analysts predict that MGE Energy will post 3.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of MGE Energy

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of MGE Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at $323,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MGE Energy during the second quarter worth about $191,000. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its holdings in shares of MGE Energy by 41.3% during the 2nd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 1,308 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $107,000 after purchasing an additional 382 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP increased its stake in MGE Energy by 114.6% during the 2nd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,972 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $161,000 after purchasing an additional 1,053 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Waverly Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in MGE Energy during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $260,000. 52.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MGE Energy Company Profile

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.

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