Principal Financial Group Inc. Cuts Stake in OGE Energy Corp. (NYSE:OGE)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lessened its stake in OGE Energy Corp. (NYSE:OGE) by 30.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 464,927 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 202,860 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.23% of OGE Energy worth $19,071,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. ClearBridge Investments Ltd grew its position in shares of OGE Energy by 2.7% during the second quarter. ClearBridge Investments Ltd now owns 5,829,222 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $208,103,000 after purchasing an additional 150,797 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners increased its stake in OGE Energy by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,815,848 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $130,878,000 after acquiring an additional 139,872 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of OGE Energy by 31.9% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,197,585 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $78,453,000 after acquiring an additional 531,730 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of OGE Energy by 3,834.0% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 748,608 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $30,708,000 after acquiring an additional 729,579 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Verity & Verity LLC grew its holdings in shares of OGE Energy by 0.7% in the second quarter. Verity & Verity LLC now owns 484,136 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $17,284,000 after purchasing an additional 3,568 shares in the last quarter. 71.84% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of OGE Energy from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on OGE Energy in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $46.00 price target for the company. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on OGE Energy from $39.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $39.40.

OGE Energy Stock Down 2.7 %

Shares of NYSE OGE opened at $41.80 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $8.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.66, a PEG ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.74. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $40.78 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $38.31. OGE Energy Corp. has a 1 year low of $32.06 and a 1 year high of $44.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.51.

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

OGE Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 7th were issued a $0.4213 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, October 7th. 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 4.03%. OGE Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 87.05%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Cristina F. Mcquistion sold 5,008 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.84, for a total value of $214,542.72. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 20,918 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $896,127.12. This represents a 19.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.53% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.