ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE) has received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the seventeen brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $82.25.

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com upgraded ONEOK from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. US Capital Advisors lowered ONEOK from an “overweight” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on ONEOK from $81.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on ONEOK from $84.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of ONEOK from $71.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st.

Insider Activity at ONEOK

In other ONEOK news, Director Wayne Thomas Smith purchased 2,700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The stock was bought at an average cost of $75.25 per share, with a total value of $203,175.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,700 shares in the company, valued at approximately $203,175. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of OKE. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in shares of ONEOK by 5.7% in the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 53,046 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,365,000 after acquiring an additional 2,873 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue grew its stake in shares of ONEOK by 20.3% in the third quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 76,601 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,857,000 after acquiring an additional 12,905 shares during the period. Naples Global Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of ONEOK in the third quarter worth approximately $233,000. Ziegler Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of ONEOK in the third quarter worth approximately $1,364,000. Finally, DAVENPORT & Co LLC grew its stake in shares of ONEOK by 67.9% in the third quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 39,121 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,483,000 after acquiring an additional 15,819 shares during the period. 69.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

ONEOK Price Performance

OKE opened at $79.90 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $76.94 and a 200-day moving average price of $71.29. ONEOK has a 12-month low of $55.91 and a 12-month high of $80.84. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.40, a PEG ratio of 4.87 and a beta of 1.65.

ONEOK (NYSE:OKE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.21 by ($0.03). ONEOK had a return on equity of 22.57% and a net margin of 15.04%. The firm had revenue of $5.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.57 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.08 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that ONEOK will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ONEOK announced that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Wednesday, January 17th that authorizes the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the utilities provider to purchase up to 4.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

ONEOK Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be given a $0.99 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 30th. This represents a $3.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.96%. ONEOK’s dividend payout ratio is 71.35%.

ONEOK Company Profile

ONEOK, Inc engages in gathering, processing, fractionation, storage, transportation, and marketing of natural gas and natural gas liquids (NGL) in the United States. It operates through four segments: Natural Gas Gathering and Processing, Natural Gas Liquids, Natural Gas Pipelines, and Refined Products and Crude.