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

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company purchased a new stake in 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 institutional investor purchased 18,284 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,491,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Glenmede Trust Co. NA lifted its stake in shares of MGE Energy by 3.5% in the first quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 4,356 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $337,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its position in MGE Energy by 28.6% during 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 period. LPL Financial LLC raised its holdings in MGE Energy by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 21,178 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,661,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares during the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its stake in MGE Energy by 63.8% during the fourth quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 416 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund raised its position in shares of MGE Energy by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 8,361 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $656,000 after acquiring an additional 168 shares in the last quarter. 52.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

MGE Energy Price Performance

MGE Energy stock opened at $77.60 on Friday. MGE Energy Inc. has a 12 month low of $72.16 and a 12 month high of $87.94. 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 business’s 50 day simple moving average is $80.75 and its 200 day simple moving average is $78.70. The company has a market cap of $2.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.07 and a beta of 0.70.

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

MGE Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.5083 per share. This represents a $2.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 1st. This is a positive change from MGE Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.47. MGE Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 49.88%.

MGE Energy Company Profile

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.