Barclays Lowers OGE Energy (NYSE:OGE) to Equal Weight

Barclays downgraded shares of OGE Energy (NYSE:OGE) from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating in a report issued on Monday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. They currently have $34.00 price objective on the utilities provider’s stock.

OGE has been the subject of several other research reports. TheStreet downgraded shares of OGE Energy from a b rating to a c+ rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. StockNews.com cut OGE Energy from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH cut OGE Energy from a buy rating to a neutral rating and lowered their price target for the company from $36.00 to $34.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $33.40.

OGE Energy Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of OGE stock opened at $34.33 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $33.56 and a 200 day moving average price of $34.07. OGE Energy has a twelve month low of $31.25 and a twelve month high of $38.04. The company has a market capitalization of $6.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.53, a PEG ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96.

OGE Energy (NYSE:OGE) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.24 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.20 by $0.04. OGE Energy had a net margin of 15.59% and a return on equity of 9.37%. The firm had revenue of $566.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $986.67 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.25 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 20.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that OGE Energy will post 2.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

OGE Energy Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.418 per share. This represents a $1.67 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 5th. OGE Energy’s payout ratio is currently 80.68%.

Insider Transactions at OGE Energy

In other news, VP Cristina F. Mcquistion sold 4,187 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.92, for a total transaction of $142,023.04. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 25,926 shares in the company, valued at approximately $879,409.92. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of OGE Energy

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. ClearBridge Investments Ltd grew its holdings in shares of OGE Energy by 3.9% during the 3rd 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 during the period. Boston Partners purchased a new position in OGE Energy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $128,381,000. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC boosted its holdings in OGE Energy by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 3,177,388 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $110,986,000 after acquiring an additional 93,916 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in OGE Energy by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,873,306 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $65,435,000 after acquiring an additional 59,329 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in OGE Energy by 13.4% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,842,045 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $61,395,000 after acquiring an additional 217,866 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.