OGE investors get another dividend while utility makes 4th increase request to regulators

  • December 12, 2022

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Two days after Oklahoma Gas and Electric filed its fourth request in the past year to bump charges to customers, the company announced the payment of its latest dividend for its investors.
The Sunday announcement came as the board of OGE Energy Corp. approved a dividend of $0.4141 per share on the 27th of January. It means the dividend yield on the company’s stock will be 4.1%.
OK Energy Today revealed the utility filed documents on Friday with the Oklahoma Corporation Commission, explaining it needed to increase its fuel cost adjustment again because of rising natural gas prices. The company said it might result in a monthly increase of $5 to $6 for its residential customers.
OG&E was given approval by commissioners of an October 1 Fuel Cost Adjustment increase but said it did not reflect recent changes in the gas price forecast.
So while OG&E is protecting its investors with yet another dividend, the utility’s consumers might be forced to pay another increase in their monthly winter bills. News of the latest dividend, one totaling $1.66 on an annual payment was reported by Yahoo Finance as indicating the company’s dividend looks like to grow.
“The company’s investors will be pleased to have been receiving dividend income for some time. OGE Energy has seen EPS rising for the last five years, at 20% per annum. Growth in EPS bodes well for the dividend, as does the low payout ratio that the company is currently reporting,” reported Yahoo Finance.
Another financial reporting site, ZACKS, pointed out that OGE Energy has increased the amount of its dividend payment annual for the past 16 years with the average annual increases of 5.2% over the past three years.
Judge recommends approval of OG&E rate case settlement | The Journal Record
Here’s the ZACKS assessment on the ability of the utility to make the January 27 payment of the dividend.

“According to the general agreement among financial experts in the sector, OGE Energy will likely generate earnings of $2.07 per share over the course of the subsequent calendar year. Given that the predicted future payout ratio is 80.2%, this suggests that the company will have adequate funds to cover its annual dividend payment of $1.66.”

Third quarter earnings increased as of the end of September and at t he time, the company said OG&E was projected to earn $417 million to $425 million or $2.08 to $2.12 per average diluted share.

At the end of the third quarter, OGE Energy Corp. Chairman, President and CEO, Sean Trauschke issued a statement saying, “We are sensitive to the impacts the inflationary environment is having on all of us, including our customers and the communities we serve. Our continued infrastructure investments and program offerings provide customers more reliable, resilient and secure electricity and allows them to better manage their energy usage and monthly bill.”

Below is the history of OGE’s dividends issued since 2020:

 

01/06/2023 CASH $0.4141 12/08/2022 01/09/2023 01/27/2023
10/07/2022 CASH $0.4141 09/27/2022 10/11/2022 10/28/2022
07/08/2022 CASH $0.41 05/19/2022 07/11/2022 07/29/2022
04/08/2022 CASH $0.41 02/23/2022 04/11/2022 04/29/2022
01/07/2022 CASH $0.41 12/01/2021 01/10/2022 01/28/2022
10/08/2021 CASH $0.41 09/29/2021 10/12/2021 10/29/2021
07/09/2021 CASH $0.4025 05/20/2021 07/12/2021 07/30/2021
04/09/2021 CASH $0.4025 02/24/2021 04/12/2021 04/30/2021
01/08/2021 CASH $0.4025 12/02/2020 01/11/2021 01/29/2021
10/09/2020 CASH $0.4025 09/28/2020 10/13/2020 10/30/2020
07/09/2020 CASH $0.3875 05/21/2020 07/10/2020 07/30/2020
04/08/2020 CASH $0.3875 02/26/2020 04/10/2020 04/30/2020
01/09/2020 CASH $0.3875 12/05/2019 01/10/2020 01/30/2020

 

Jerry Bohnen