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

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its holdings in shares of OGE Energy Corp. (NYSE:OGE) by 30.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 464,927 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 202,860 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.23% of OGE Energy worth $19,071,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of OGE. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of OGE Energy by 3,834.0% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 748,608 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $30,708,000 after acquiring an additional 729,579 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in OGE Energy by 31.9% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,197,585 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $78,453,000 after purchasing an additional 531,730 shares during the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC grew its position in OGE Energy by 25.2% during the 3rd quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 1,318,556 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $54,087,000 after purchasing an additional 265,115 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of OGE Energy by 198.1% during the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 293,217 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $10,468,000 after buying an additional 194,839 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of OGE Energy by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,836,303 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $280,425,000 after buying an additional 185,069 shares during the period. 71.84% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on OGE shares. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on OGE Energy in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $46.00 target price on the stock. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of OGE Energy from $39.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $40.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Cristina F. Mcquistion sold 5,008 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.84, for a total transaction of $214,542.72. Following the completion of 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.53% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

OGE Energy Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of OGE stock opened at $41.37 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $42.00 and a 200-day simple moving average of $39.68. OGE Energy Corp. has a 1-year low of $32.06 and a 1-year high of $44.41. The company has a market cap of $8.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.44, a PEG ratio of 3.80 and a beta of 0.77. 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 released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $965.40 million for 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.20 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that OGE Energy Corp. will post 2.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

OGE Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, January 6th will be paid a $0.4213 dividend. This represents a $1.69 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, January 6th. OGE Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 87.05%.

OGE Energy 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.