MGE Energy (NASDAQ:MGEE) Stock Rating Upgraded by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of MGE Energy (NASDAQ:MGEE - Free Report) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report published on Friday morning.

MGEE has been the topic of several other reports. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded MGE Energy to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on MGE Energy from $75.00 to $74.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 22nd.

MGE Energy Stock Performance

Shares of MGE Energy stock traded up $1.51 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $88.38. The company had a trading volume of 177,021 shares, compared to its average volume of 137,758. MGE Energy has a 12-month low of $82.76 and a 12-month high of $109.22. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $89.11 and a 200 day simple moving average of $90.17. The company has a quick ratio of 1.49, a current ratio of 2.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The stock has a market cap of $3.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.97 and a beta of 0.76.

MGE Energy (NASDAQ:MGEE - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $218.97 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $202.42 million. MGE Energy had a return on equity of 10.58% and a net margin of 18.22%. As a group, analysts predict that MGE Energy will post 3.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MGE Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, June 1st were paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 30th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.04%. MGE Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.85%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Hennessy Advisors Inc. raised its stake in MGE Energy by 62.9% during the 2nd quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 15,279 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,351,000 after acquiring an additional 5,900 shares in the last quarter. Hilltop National Bank purchased a new position in shares of MGE Energy during the second quarter valued at $41,000. State of Alaska Department of Revenue grew its holdings in shares of MGE Energy by 8.4% during the second quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 21,747 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,922,000 after buying an additional 1,684 shares in the last quarter. Oak Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of MGE Energy during the second quarter valued at $329,000. Finally, Caitlin John LLC grew its holdings in shares of MGE Energy by 105.3% during the second quarter. Caitlin John LLC now owns 10,369 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $917,000 after buying an additional 5,318 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 52.58% of the company's stock.

MGE Energy Company Profile

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.