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

OGE Energy (NYSE:OGE - Free Report) had its target price boosted by Barclays from $44.00 to $45.00 in a report released on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. Barclays currently has an equal weight rating on the utilities provider's stock.

A number of other research analysts have also commented on OGE. Argus raised OGE Energy from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $47.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded shares of OGE Energy to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded shares of OGE Energy from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $40.00 to $47.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $46.25.

OGE Energy Trading Down 0.6 %

OGE Energy stock traded down $0.27 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $44.94. The company's stock had a trading volume of 251,492 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,215,096. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $44.68 and a 200-day moving average price of $42.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.51. OGE Energy has a 12 month low of $33.79 and a 12 month high of $46.91. The stock has a market cap of $9.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.57.

OGE Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Investors of record on Monday, April 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.4213 per share. This represents a $1.69 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 7th. OGE Energy's payout ratio is currently 76.36%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On OGE Energy

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in OGE. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of OGE Energy by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,413,588 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $883,311,000 after buying an additional 203,129 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of OGE Energy by 15.8% during the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,174,558 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $254,701,000 after acquiring an additional 844,679 shares during the period. Boston Partners lifted its stake in shares of OGE Energy by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 4,182,795 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $172,554,000 after buying an additional 258,989 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of OGE Energy by 29.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,562,014 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $146,933,000 after acquiring an additional 807,690 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in OGE Energy by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,364,886 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $138,845,000 after buying an additional 15,415 shares in the last quarter. 71.84% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.