ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE) Receives $82.25 Average Target Price from Brokerages

ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE) has been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the seventeen research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have assigned a hold recommendation and nine have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $82.25.

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. US Capital Advisors cut ONEOK from an “overweight” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of ONEOK from $81.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of ONEOK from $73.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of ONEOK from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of ONEOK from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 7th.

Insider Activity

In other ONEOK news, Director Wayne Thomas Smith acquired 2,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The stock was acquired at an average price of $75.25 per share, for a total transaction of $203,175.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 2,700 shares in the company, valued at $203,175. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of ONEOK

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

ONEOK Trading Up 0.4 %

OKE stock opened at $81.41 on Tuesday. ONEOK has a 52 week low of $55.91 and a 52 week high of $81.81. The company has a market capitalization of $47.51 billion, a PE ratio of 14.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.95 and a beta of 1.65. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $77.97 and its 200 day simple moving average is $71.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.90.

ONEOK (NYSE:OKE) last announced its earnings results 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 business had revenue of $5.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.57 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.08 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that ONEOK will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

ONEOK declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, January 17th that permits the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the utilities provider to repurchase up to 4.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

ONEOK Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be given a dividend of $0.99 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 30th. This represents a $3.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.86%. ONEOK’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.