OGE Energy (NYSE:OGE) Stock Rated “Sector Outperform” in New Coverage at Scotiabank

Scotiabank started coverage on shares of OGE Energy (NYSE:OGE) in a report published on Tuesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage issued a sector outperform rating and a $49.00 target price on the utilities provider’s stock.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Argus restated a “buy” rating on shares of OGE Energy in a report on Wednesday, September 16th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of OGE Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded shares of OGE Energy from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $50.00 to $54.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of OGE Energy in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of OGE Energy from $49.00 to $46.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 18th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $49.73.

OGE Energy Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of NYSE OGE opened at $45.72 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $46.52 and its two-hundred day moving average is $47.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.47. OGE Energy has a 1-year low of $41.69 and a 1-year high of $50.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.14, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.50.

OGE Energy (NYSE:OGE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 28th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $711.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $782.73 million. OGE Energy had a return on equity of 9.48% and a net margin of 14.44%.The company’s quarterly revenue was down 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.53 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that OGE Energy will post 2.42 EPS for the current year.

OGE Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 30th. Investors of record on Monday, October 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.4288 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, October 5th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.8%. This is an increase from OGE Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.4250. OGE Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 74.89%.

Insider Transactions at OGE Energy

In other OGE Energy news, SVP Donnie Jones sold 6,508 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.11, for a total value of $300,083.88. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 40,555 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,869,991.05. This represents a 13.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.57% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of OGE Energy

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of OGE Energy in the second quarter worth about $1,277,554,000. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in OGE Energy by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,226,476 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $351,640,000 after buying an additional 198,593 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its holdings in OGE Energy by 8.3% during the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 6,240,594 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $266,473,000 after buying an additional 479,278 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in OGE Energy by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,825,542 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $163,397,000 after buying an additional 204,510 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in OGE Energy by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,688,307 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $128,931,000 after buying an additional 24,529 shares during the period. 71.84% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About OGE Energy

OGE Energy Corp. (NYSE: OGE) is an energy holding company headquartered in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Through its principal subsidiary, Oklahoma Gas and Electric Company (OG&E), the company provides regulated electric utility services, including the generation, transmission, distribution and retail sale of electricity.

OG&E serves residential, commercial and industrial customers across Oklahoma and western Arkansas. Its operations include a portfolio of power-generation facilities and an electric transmission and distribution network supporting the communities and businesses within its service territory.

OGE Energy traces its utility operations to the founding of Oklahoma Gas and Electric in 1902.