After beating estimates last quarter by $0.04, OGE Energy (NYSE: OGE) has set the standard for itself. The company will unveil its latest earnings on Thursday, Feb. 16. OGE Energy is an energy and energy services provider offering physical delivery and related services for both electricity and natural gas in the south central United States.

What analysts say:

  • Buy, sell, or hold?: Analysts strongly back OGE Energy, with five of eight rating it a buy and the remainder rating it a hold. Analysts don't like OGE Energy as much as competitor CMS Energy overall. While analysts still rate the stock a moderate buy, they are a little more optimistic about it compared to three months ago.
  • Wall Street earnings expectations: The average analyst estimate is earnings of $0.35 per share.

What our community says:
CAPS All-Stars are strongly backing the stock, with 95% awarding it an "outperform" rating. Most of the community agrees with the All-Stars, with 90.8% granting it a rating of "outperform." Fools are bullish on OGE Energy, though the message boards have been quiet lately with only 44 posts in the past 30 days. Despite the majority sentiment in favor of OGE Energy, the stock has a middling CAPS rating of three out of five stars.

Management:
OGE Energy's profit has risen year-over-year by an average of 8.8% over the past five quarters. The company's revenue has now risen for two straight quarters.

Now, a look at how efficient management has been at running the business. Traditionally, margins represent the efficiency with which companies capture portions of sales dollars. OGE Energy's net margins have increased year over year for the last three quarters. Net margins reflect what percentage of revenue becomes profit. Here are OGE Energy's reported margins for the last four quarters:

Quarter

Q3

Q2

Q1

Q4

Gross Margin

33.5%

28.8%

20.1%

21.9%

Net Margin

14.7%

10.5%

3.0%

3.7%

For all our OGE Energy-specific analysis, including earnings and beyond, add OGE Energy to My Watchlist.

Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Earnings estimates provided by Zacks.