Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Lowers Position in MGE Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:MGEE)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC cut its stake in shares of MGE Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:MGEE) by 15.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 44,390 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 8,175 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC owned about 0.12% of MGE Energy worth $3,317,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MGEE. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of MGE Energy by 9.0% in the second quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,566 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $192,000 after acquiring an additional 212 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd lifted its position in shares of MGE Energy by 43.3% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 794 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $63,000 after acquiring an additional 240 shares in the last quarter. Landaas & Co. WI ADV lifted its position in shares of MGE Energy by 9.5% in the first quarter. Landaas & Co. WI ADV now owns 3,466 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $273,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lifted its position in shares of MGE Energy by 1.7% in the second quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 18,200 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,360,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its position in shares of MGE Energy by 5.1% in the second quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 7,508 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $561,000 after acquiring an additional 365 shares in the last quarter. 52.58% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MGE Energy Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of MGEE stock opened at $87.83 on Wednesday. MGE Energy, Inc. has a 12-month low of $61.94 and a 12-month high of $90.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $84.32 and its 200-day moving average price is $79.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.45 and a beta of 0.70.

MGE Energy (NASDAQ:MGEE) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.95 by ($0.29). MGE Energy had a return on equity of 10.04% and a net margin of 17.45%. The firm had revenue of $145.71 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $151.29 million. Equities research analysts predict that MGE Energy, Inc. will post 3.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MGE Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Sunday, September 1st will be issued a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.05%. This is a boost from MGE Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 30th. MGE Energy’s payout ratio is 54.22%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on MGEE. StockNews.com upgraded MGE Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 29th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on MGE Energy from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd.

About MGE Energy

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.