Morgan Stanley Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for OGE Energy (NYSE:OGE) Stock

OGE Energy (NYSE:OGE) had its price objective boosted by stock analysts at Morgan Stanley from $46.00 to $47.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “equal weight” rating on the utilities provider’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price target points to a potential downside of 2.12% from the company’s previous close.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of OGE Energy in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Argus restated a “buy” rating on shares of OGE Energy in a research report on Wednesday, September 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of OGE Energy from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Barclays reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $48.00 target price (down from $52.00) on shares of OGE Energy in a report on Monday. Finally, Scotiabank started coverage on shares of OGE Energy in a research note on Tuesday, September 29th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $49.00 target price for the company. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $49.55.

OGE Energy Price Performance

Shares of OGE traded up $0.48 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $48.02. The stock had a trading volume of 423,721 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,590,474. OGE Energy has a 52 week low of $41.69 and a 52 week high of $50.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.47. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $46.23 and its 200-day moving average price is $47.39. The company has a market capitalization of $9.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.15, a P/E/G ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.50.

OGE Energy (NYSE:OGE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 28th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.01. OGE Energy had a return on equity of 9.48% and a net margin of 14.44%. The business had revenue of $711.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $782.73 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.53 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that OGE Energy will post 2.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other 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 transaction of $300,083.88. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 40,555 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,869,991.05. This represents a 13.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.57% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On OGE Energy

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its holdings in OGE Energy by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 12,395 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $585,000 after buying an additional 605 shares during the period. Sterling Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in OGE Energy during the third quarter valued at about $244,000. Pension & Wealth Management Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of OGE Energy in the third quarter worth about $39,000. Curated Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of OGE Energy in the third quarter worth about $389,000. Finally, First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. increased its position in shares of OGE Energy by 56.7% in the third quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 28,671 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,302,000 after acquiring an additional 10,377 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.84% of the company’s stock.

OGE Energy Company Profile

OGE Energy Corp. (NYSE: OGE) is an energy holding company headquartered in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Its principal subsidiary, Oklahoma Gas and Electric Company (OG&E), is a regulated electric utility that generates, transmits, distributes and sells electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers.

OG&E serves customers across Oklahoma and in western Arkansas. Its operations include a diverse generation fleet and the infrastructure needed to deliver electricity, including transmission and distribution networks, customer service programs and energy-efficiency offerings.