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Reasons to Add OGE Energy (OGE) to Your Portfolio Right Now

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OGE Energy Corp.’s (OGE - Free Report) systematic capital investment plan for infrastructure development and emission reduction will further drive its performance. Given its strong growth opportunities, OGE makes for a solid investment option in the utility sector.

Let’s focus on the factors that make this Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) company a strong investment pick at the moment.

Growth Projections & Surprise History

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for OGE’s 2023 earnings per share (EPS) has increased 0.5% to $2.02 in the past 30 days.

OGE’s long-term (three- to five-year) earnings growth rate is 3.65%. It delivered an average earnings surprise of 3.8% in the last four quarters.

Return on Equity

Return on equity (ROE) indicates how efficiently a company has been utilizing its funds to generate higher returns. Currently, OGE Energy’s ROE is 10%, higher than the industry’s average of 5.5%. This indicates that the company has been utilizing its funds more constructively than its peers in the electric power utility industry.

Dividend History

The company has been consistently increasing shareholders’ value by paying dividends. It will continue to grow its dividend in the next five years. Currently, its quarterly dividend is 41.41 cents per share. This results in an annualized dividend of $1.6564 per share. The company’s current dividend yield is 4.65%, better than the Zacks S&P 500 Composite's average of 1.45%.

Debt Position

Currently, OGE’s total debt to capital is 52.07%, better than industry’s average of 61.13%.

The time to interest earned ratio at the end of second-quarter 2023 was 3.7. The ratio, being greater than one, reflects the company’s ability to meet future interest obligations without difficulties.

Systematic Investments

OGE Energy is the largest electric utility in Oklahoma and is pursuing an aggressive investment strategy to upgrade its infrastructure and provide seamless services to its customers. The company plans to spend $4.75 billion between 2023 and 2027. For 2023, OGE has allocated $950 million, which includes $720 million for strengthening its transmission, distribution and grid expansion operations. With these capital investments, the company aims to maintain and improve the safety, resiliency and reliability of its distribution and transmission grid and generation fleet.

Price Performance

In the past month, OGE’s shares have rallied 5.3% compared with the industry’s average growth of 0.2%.

 

Zacks Investment Research
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Other Stocks to Consider

A few other top-ranked stocks from the same industry are TransAlta (TAC - Free Report) and Vistra Corp. (VST - Free Report) , both sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), and ALLETE (ALE - Free Report) , holding a Zacks Rank #2 at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for TAC’s 2023 EPS indicates a year-over-year increase of 1,912.5%. It delivered an average earnings surprise of 107.1% in the last four quarters.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for VST’s 2023 EPS indicates a year-over-year improvement of 205.8%. The same for sales indicates a year-over-year increase of 46.2%.

ALE’s long-term earnings growth rate is 8.1%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for its 2023 EPS implies year-over-year growth of 8.6%.

 

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