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

Key Points

• Barclays raised its OGE Energy price target from $48 to $50 while maintaining an “equal weight” rating, implying only 1.11% upside from the stock’s $49.45 price.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed: five analysts rate OGE a Buy and six a Hold, resulting in a consensus “Hold” rating and a $50 price target.
• OGE Energy exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $1.52 in EPS versus a $1.36 estimate and $1.18 billion in revenue, up 13.2% year over year.

OGE Energy (NYSE:OGE - Get Free Report) had its price target increased by research analysts at Barclays from $48.00 to $50.00 in a report released on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an "equal weight" rating on the utilities provider's stock. Barclays's target price indicates a potential upside of 1.11% from the stock's current price.

A number of other analysts have also recently issued reports on OGE. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of OGE Energy from $50.00 to $49.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded shares of OGE Energy from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their price target for the company from $50.00 to $54.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Argus reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of OGE Energy in a research report on Wednesday, September 16th. Scotiabank reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $54.00 price target on shares of OGE Energy in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of OGE Energy in a research report on Thursday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $50.00.

OGE Energy Stock Up 0.2%

OGE Energy stock traded up $0.08 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $49.45. The company had a trading volume of 272,586 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,606,106. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $46.46 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $47.06. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. The company has a market capitalization of $10.22 billion, a PE ratio of 18.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.50. OGE Energy has a 12 month low of $41.69 and a 12 month high of $50.59.

OGE Energy (NYSE:OGE - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 27th. The utilities provider reported $1.52 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.36 by $0.16. OGE Energy had a return on equity of 11.11% and a net margin of 16.36%. The business had revenue of $1.18 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.12 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.14 EPS. The company's revenue was up 13.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that OGE Energy will post 2.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at OGE Energy

In other news, SVP Donnie Jones sold 6,508 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 40,555 shares in the company, valued at $1,869,991.05. The trade was a 13.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.57% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of OGE Energy

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Operose Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of OGE Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Root Financial Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of OGE Energy by 111.3% during the 1st quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 598 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 315 shares during the period. Markowski Investments purchased a new position in shares of OGE Energy during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Clearstead Trust LLC acquired a new stake in OGE Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, Pension & Wealth Management Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in OGE Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.84% of the company's stock.

About OGE Energy

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.

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