OGE Energy Corp. (NYSE:OGE) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of OGE Energy Corp. (NYSE:OGE) have earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the six analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $46.40.

OGE has been the topic of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of OGE Energy from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays boosted their price objective on OGE Energy from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of OGE Energy from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $40.00 to $47.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded shares of OGE Energy to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Argus upgraded OGE Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $47.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider William H. Sultemeier sold 6,650 shares of OGE Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.54, for a total transaction of $302,841.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 72,548 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,303,835.92. This trade represents a 8.40% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.55% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in OGE Energy by 14.2% in the fourth quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 6,505 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $268,000 after buying an additional 810 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in OGE Energy by 83.4% during the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 95,691 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,947,000 after purchasing an additional 43,529 shares in the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of OGE Energy in the 4th quarter valued at about $252,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its holdings in shares of OGE Energy by 38.2% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 24,085 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $993,000 after purchasing an additional 6,657 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its holdings in shares of OGE Energy by 45.1% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 126,230 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,176,000 after buying an additional 39,263 shares in the last quarter. 71.84% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

OGE Energy Stock Performance

Shares of OGE stock opened at $42.85 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $44.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $43.25. OGE Energy has a fifty-two week low of $34.20 and a fifty-two week high of $46.91. The firm has a market cap of $8.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.48, a PEG ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.51.

OGE Energy (NYSE:OGE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.31 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $747.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $695.59 million. OGE Energy had a return on equity of 9.71% and a net margin of 14.79%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.09 EPS. Analysts predict that OGE Energy will post 2.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

OGE Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 7th were paid a dividend of $0.4213 per share. This represents a $1.69 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 7th. OGE Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 69.42%.

About OGE Energy

OGE Energy Corp., together with its subsidiaries, operates as an energy services provider in the United States. The company generates, transmits, distributes, and sells electric energy. In addition, it provides retail electric service to approximately 896,000 customers, which covers a service area of approximately 30,000 square miles in Oklahoma and western Arkansas; and owns and operates coal-fired, natural gas-fired, wind-powered, and solar-powered generating assets.