OGE Energy (NYSE:OGE) Downgraded by Barclays to “Equal Weight”

Barclays lowered shares of OGE Energy (NYSE:OGE) from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating in a research report sent to investors on Monday, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has $34.00 price target on the utilities provider’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on OGE. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH lowered shares of OGE Energy from a buy rating to a neutral rating and cut their price target for the stock from $36.00 to $34.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. TheStreet lowered shares of OGE Energy from a b rating to a c+ rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of OGE Energy from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, OGE Energy currently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $33.40.

OGE Energy Trading Down 0.0 %

NYSE OGE opened at $34.04 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $33.52 and its two-hundred day moving average is $34.06. OGE Energy has a 12 month low of $31.25 and a 12 month high of $38.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.44, a PEG ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.73.

OGE Energy (NYSE:OGE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.20 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $566.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $986.67 million. OGE Energy had a net margin of 15.59% and a return on equity of 9.37%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 20.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.25 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that OGE Energy will post 2.13 earnings per share for the current year.

OGE Energy Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 26th. Investors of record on Monday, April 8th will be issued a $0.418 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 5th. This represents a $1.67 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.91%. OGE Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 80.68%.

Insider Activity at OGE Energy

In related news, VP Cristina F. Mcquistion sold 4,187 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.92, for a total value of $142,023.04. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 25,926 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $879,409.92. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.53% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of OGE Energy

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. ClearBridge Investments Ltd raised its holdings in OGE Energy by 3.9% during the third quarter. ClearBridge Investments Ltd now owns 6,684,861 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $222,806,000 after purchasing an additional 252,456 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners acquired a new stake in OGE Energy during the fourth quarter worth approximately $128,381,000. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC raised its holdings in OGE Energy by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 3,177,388 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $110,986,000 after purchasing an additional 93,916 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in OGE Energy by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,873,306 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $65,435,000 after purchasing an additional 59,329 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in OGE Energy by 13.4% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,842,045 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $61,395,000 after purchasing an additional 217,866 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.84% of the company’s stock.

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.