OGE Energy Corp. (NYSE:OGE) Sees Large Drop in Short Interest

OGE Energy Corp. (NYSE:OGE) was the target of a large decrease in short interest during the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,780,000 shares, a decrease of 17.7% from the March 31st total of 5,810,000 shares. Approximately 2.4% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,570,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.0 days.

Insider Buying and Selling at OGE Energy

In other news, VP Cristina F. Mcquistion sold 4,187 shares of OGE Energy stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.92, for a total transaction of $142,023.04. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 25,926 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $879,409.92. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.53% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of OGE Energy

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of OGE. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in OGE Energy by 178.1% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 762 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 488 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. raised its position in shares of OGE Energy by 392.8% during the first quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 823 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 656 shares during the last quarter. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of OGE Energy during the fourth quarter worth $36,000. Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in OGE Energy during the third quarter valued at $43,000. Finally, Avior Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in OGE Energy by 572.5% in the 3rd quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,466 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 1,248 shares during the last quarter. 71.84% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

OGE has been the subject of a number of research reports. Barclays lowered OGE Energy from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $34.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. TheStreet downgraded shares of OGE Energy from a “b” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. StockNews.com upgraded OGE Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH lowered OGE Energy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $36.00 to $34.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $33.40.

OGE Energy Stock Performance

OGE traded down $0.66 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $33.82. 1,190,658 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,434,453. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.34, a P/E/G ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.73. OGE Energy has a 52-week low of $31.25 and a 52-week high of $38.04. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $33.64 and its 200-day moving average price is $34.08.

OGE Energy (NYSE:OGE) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. OGE Energy had a net margin of 15.59% and a return on equity of 9.37%. The company had revenue of $566.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $986.67 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.25 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 20.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that OGE Energy will post 2.13 EPS for the current year.

OGE Energy Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 26th. Investors of record on Monday, April 8th were paid a dividend of $0.418 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 5th. This represents a $1.67 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.94%. OGE Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 80.68%.

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.