Short Interest in OGE Energy Corp. (NYSE:OGE) Declines By 17.7%

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

OGE Energy Trading Up 2.4 %

Shares of OGE Energy stock traded up $0.80 on Monday, hitting $34.62. 1,806,963 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,582,123. OGE Energy has a 52 week low of $31.25 and a 52 week high of $38.04. The company has a market cap of $6.94 billion, a PE ratio of 16.73, a PEG ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.73. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $33.64 and its 200-day moving average price is $34.08. 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 issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.24 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.20 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $566.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $986.67 million. OGE Energy had a return on equity of 9.37% and a net margin of 15.59%. 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 business earned $0.25 EPS. Equities research analysts predict 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 given a dividend of $0.418 per share. This represents a $1.67 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 5th. OGE Energy’s payout ratio is currently 80.68%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On OGE Energy

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 488 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. grew its holdings in OGE Energy by 392.8% in the first quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 823 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 656 shares during the last quarter. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of OGE Energy during the fourth quarter worth $36,000. Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of OGE Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at $43,000. Finally, Avior Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of OGE Energy by 572.5% in the 3rd quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,466 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 1,248 shares in the last quarter. 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.