Freedom Investment Management Inc. Makes New $945,000 Investment in OGE Energy Corp. (NYSE:OGE)

Freedom Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in OGE Energy Corp. (NYSE:OGE) during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor bought 23,032 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $945,000.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Townsquare Capital LLC lifted its stake in OGE Energy by 15.0% during the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 12,235 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $502,000 after acquiring an additional 1,593 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its holdings in shares of OGE Energy by 316.6% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 34,752 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,426,000 after purchasing an additional 26,411 shares during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in shares of OGE Energy during the third quarter valued at about $1,818,000. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in OGE Energy by 16.3% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 558,967 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $22,929,000 after purchasing an additional 78,164 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hancock Whitney Corp bought a new stake in OGE Energy in the 3rd quarter worth about $870,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.84% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Cristina F. Mcquistion sold 5,008 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.84, for a total transaction of $214,542.72. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 20,918 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $896,127.12. This represents a 19.32 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.53% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on OGE. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of OGE Energy from $39.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on OGE Energy in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $46.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their target price on OGE Energy from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $40.50.

OGE Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE OGE opened at $44.08 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $41.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $38.84. OGE Energy Corp. has a 1-year low of $32.06 and a 1-year high of $44.41. The firm has a market cap of $8.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 0.74.

OGE Energy (NYSE:OGE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.12 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $965.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.02 billion. OGE Energy had a return on equity of 8.59% and a net margin of 13.89%. The company’s revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.20 EPS. Analysts anticipate that OGE Energy Corp. will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current year.

OGE Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 25th. Investors of record on Monday, October 7th were paid a dividend of $0.4213 per share. This is a boost from OGE Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.69 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 7th. OGE Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 87.05%.

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.