Morgan Stanley Cuts MGE Energy (NASDAQ:MGEE) Price Target to $71.00

Key Points

• Morgan Stanley lowered its price target for MGE Energy from $74 to $71 and maintained an “underweight” rating, implying 4.52% downside from the prior close.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed, with one Buy, one Hold, and one Sell rating; the consensus view is “Hold” with a $76 target price.
• MGE Energy shares fell 0.9% to $74.36, while the company’s latest quarterly results exceeded EPS expectations ($0.89 versus $0.77) but missed revenue estimates.

MGE Energy (NASDAQ:MGEE - Get Free Report) had its price target reduced by equities research analysts at Morgan Stanley from $74.00 to $71.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an "underweight" rating on the utilities provider's stock. Morgan Stanley's price objective points to a potential downside of 4.52% from the company's previous close.

MGEE has been the subject of several other research reports. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of MGE Energy in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded MGE Energy from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $81.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, June 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MGE Energy presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $76.00.

MGE Energy Stock Down 0.9%

NASDAQ MGEE traded down $0.64 on Friday, hitting $74.36. 55,626 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 218,493. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The company has a market capitalization of $2.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.27 and a beta of 0.70. MGE Energy has a twelve month low of $72.16 and a twelve month high of $87.94. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $79.61 and a 200 day moving average of $78.33.

MGE Energy (NASDAQ:MGEE - Get Free Report) last released 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. MGE Energy had a net margin of 19.45% and a return on equity of 11.10%. The firm had revenue of $161.19 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $166.37 million. As a group, analysts expect that MGE Energy will post 3.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MGE Energy

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its position in shares of MGE Energy by 369.1% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 40,409 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,169,000 after purchasing an additional 31,795 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in MGE Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $496,897,000. Sei Investments Co. increased its position in MGE Energy by 193.5% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 32,857 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,540,000 after buying an additional 21,663 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its position in MGE Energy by 46.0% in the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 67,600 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $5,225,000 after buying an additional 21,300 shares during the period. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new position in shares of MGE Energy during the second quarter worth approximately $4,160,000. 52.58% of the stock is 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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