OGE Energy downgraded to Neutral at BofA on increased parent leverage

As previously reported, BofA analyst Julien Dumoulin-Smith downgraded OGE Energy to Neutral from Buy with a price target of $39, down from $41, after management stated plans along with the company’s Q4 report to increase parent leverage to support the 5%-7% utility growth. This leads the firm to cut its consolidate growth rate expectation and lower it s 2024-plus EPS estimates. BofA now estimates a roughly 4% consolidated EPS growth rate for 2023-2027.