OGE Energy (NYSE:OGE) Upgraded at Barclays

Barclays upgraded shares of OGE Energy (NYSE:OGE) from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating in a report released on Thursday, Marketbeat.com reports. Barclays currently has $47.00 target price on the utilities provider’s stock, up from their previous target price of $45.00.

OGE has been the subject of several other research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on OGE Energy from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. 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. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded OGE Energy to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.80.

OGE Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE OGE opened at $43.80 on Thursday. OGE Energy has a fifty-two week low of $34.84 and a fifty-two week high of $46.91. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $44.35 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $43.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08. The firm has a market cap of $8.82 billion, a PE ratio of 19.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.60.

OGE Energy (NYSE:OGE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.09. OGE Energy had a return on equity of 9.71% and a net margin of 14.79%. The firm had revenue of $747.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $695.59 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.09 EPS. OGE Energy’s quarterly revenue was up 25.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that OGE Energy will post 2.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

OGE Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 7th will be given a $0.4213 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 7th. This represents a $1.69 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.85%. OGE Energy’s payout ratio is 69.42%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider William H. Sultemeier sold 6,650 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.54, for a total value of $302,841.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 72,548 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,303,835.92. This trade represents a 8.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Donnie O. Jones sold 11,351 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.06, for a total value of $500,125.06. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 43,932 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,935,643.92. This trade represents a 20.53% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of OGE Energy

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its holdings in shares of OGE Energy by 10.8% in the 4th quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 62,831 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,592,000 after purchasing an additional 6,135 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its stake in OGE Energy by 38.2% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 24,085 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $993,000 after acquiring an additional 6,657 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its stake in OGE Energy by 45.1% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 126,230 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,176,000 after acquiring an additional 39,263 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its stake in OGE Energy by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 6,038 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $249,000 after acquiring an additional 295 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its stake in OGE Energy by 26.2% during the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 8,812 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $363,000 after acquiring an additional 1,832 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.84% of the company’s stock.

OGE Energy Company Profile

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.