MGE Energy (NASDAQ:MGEE) Announces Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.03 EPS

MGE Energy (NASDAQ:MGEE) announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The utilities provider reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.03, Zacks reports. The firm had revenue of $175.68 million for the quarter. MGE Energy had a return on equity of 10.58% and a net margin of 18.24%.

MGE Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MGEE traded down $0.30 during trading on Thursday, reaching $84.18. 35,107 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 143,417. The firm has a market cap of $3.08 billion, a PE ratio of 23.38 and a beta of 0.81. MGE Energy has a 12 month low of $81.13 and a 12 month high of $109.22. The company has a current ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $84.28 and a 200-day moving average price of $86.85.

MGE Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.475 per share. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 1st. MGE Energy’s payout ratio is currently 52.78%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on MGEE. Morgan Stanley restated an “underweight” rating on shares of MGE Energy in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised MGE Energy from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $69.00 to $83.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 11th. Weiss Ratings downgraded MGE Energy from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded MGE Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 26th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $79.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other MGE Energy news, Director James G. Berbee bought 507 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 15th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $83.83 per share, for a total transaction of $42,501.81. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 6,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $530,560.07. This trade represents a 8.71% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.19% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MGE Energy

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of MGE Energy by 19.1% in the 2nd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,326 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $117,000 after acquiring an additional 213 shares during the last quarter. Vident Advisory LLC lifted its stake in shares of MGE Energy by 5.3% in the 2nd quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 11,514 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,018,000 after acquiring an additional 576 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of MGE Energy by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 21,707 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,018,000 after acquiring an additional 954 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth lifted its stake in shares of MGE Energy by 84.9% in the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 2,291 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $213,000 after acquiring an additional 1,052 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of MGE Energy by 18.8% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 8,275 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $769,000 after acquiring an additional 1,312 shares during the last quarter. 52.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.