Virtus Advisers LLC Takes Position in OGE Energy Corporation $OGE

Virtus Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of OGE Energy Corporation (NYSE:OGE) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 14,504 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $706,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of OGE Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,277,554,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in OGE Energy during the fourth quarter valued at about $119,028,000. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in OGE Energy by 103.2% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,628,210 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $197,625,000 after buying an additional 2,350,574 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in OGE Energy during the second quarter worth about $102,382,000. Finally, Energy Income Partners LLC acquired a new position in OGE Energy during the second quarter worth about $99,016,000. Institutional investors own 71.84% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on OGE shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of OGE Energy in a report on Friday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley set a $51.00 price objective on shares of OGE Energy in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of OGE Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 1st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of OGE Energy from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of OGE Energy from $50.00 to $49.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $49.80.

OGE Energy Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NYSE:OGE opened at $46.77 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $48.12 and a 200 day simple moving average of $47.67. OGE Energy Corporation has a 52 week low of $41.69 and a 52 week high of $50.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.77. The company has a market cap of $9.66 billion, a PE ratio of 20.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.48 and a beta of 0.53.

OGE Energy (NYSE:OGE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 28th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.01. OGE Energy had a net margin of 14.44% and a return on equity of 9.48%. The firm had revenue of $711.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $782.73 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.53 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that OGE Energy Corporation will post 2.42 earnings per share for the current year.

About OGE Energy

OGE Energy Corp. (NYSE:OGE) is an energy and infrastructure holding company headquartered in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Through its principal subsidiary, Oklahoma Gas & Electric Company, the company provides regulated electric service to residential, commercial and industrial customers across Oklahoma and western Arkansas. Its diversified generation mix includes coal, natural gas and wind-powered facilities, complemented by ongoing investments in grid modernization and smart technology to enhance reliability and customer satisfaction.

In addition to its core electric utility operations, OGE Energy Corp.