Merit Financial Group LLC Has $317,000 Holdings in OGE Energy Corp. (NYSE:OGE)

Merit Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of OGE Energy Corp. (NYSE:OGE) by 5.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 6,887 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 382 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in OGE Energy were worth $317,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in OGE. Summit Global Investments boosted its holdings in shares of OGE Energy by 25.5% during the 1st quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 20,741 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $953,000 after buying an additional 4,216 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of OGE Energy by 5,760.9% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 321,352 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $14,769,000 after buying an additional 315,869 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of OGE Energy by 337.3% during the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,924 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $88,000 after buying an additional 1,484 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of OGE Energy by 72.8% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 25,879 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,068,000 after buying an additional 10,901 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LifeWealth Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of OGE Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $215,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.84% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at OGE Energy

In other news, VP Donnie O. Jones sold 11,351 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.06, for a total transaction of $500,125.06. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 43,932 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,935,643.92. This trade represents a 20.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider William H. Sultemeier sold 6,650 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.54, for a total value of $302,841.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 72,548 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,303,835.92. This represents a 8.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.55% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on OGE Energy from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays upgraded OGE Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $45.00 to $47.00 in a report on Thursday, June 5th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded OGE Energy to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Argus upgraded OGE Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $47.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.80.

OGE Energy Price Performance

Shares of OGE opened at $44.14 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $8.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.06, a P/E/G ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.59. The business’s fifty day moving average is $44.27 and its 200 day moving average is $43.55. OGE Energy Corp. has a 12-month low of $34.84 and a 12-month high of $46.91. The company has a quick ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08.

OGE Energy (NYSE:OGE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.31 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $747.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $695.59 million. OGE Energy had a return on equity of 9.71% and a net margin of 14.79%. OGE Energy’s quarterly revenue was up 25.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.09 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that OGE Energy Corp. will post 2.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

OGE Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 25th. Investors of record on Monday, July 7th will be given a $0.4213 dividend. This represents a $1.69 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 7th. OGE Energy’s payout ratio is currently 69.42%.

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.