ONEOK Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:OKE)

ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE) saw unusually large options trading activity on Tuesday. Traders purchased 20,939 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 233% compared to the average daily volume of 6,282 call options.

Institutional Trading of ONEOK

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of OKE. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT raised its stake in ONEOK by 73.3% during the fourth quarter. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT now owns 338 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. City Holding Co. bought a new stake in shares of ONEOK during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Winnow Wealth LLC acquired a new position in ONEOK during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates bought a new position in ONEOK in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Financial Consulate Inc. acquired a new stake in ONEOK in the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. 69.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on OKE shares. TD Cowen dropped their price target on ONEOK from $78.00 to $76.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of ONEOK from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $87.00 to $83.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of ONEOK from $90.00 to $82.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of ONEOK from $78.00 to $76.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Finally, Scotiabank restated an “outperform” rating and set a $91.00 target price on shares of ONEOK in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $85.80.

ONEOK Stock Performance

Shares of ONEOK stock opened at $85.50 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44. The company has a market cap of $53.80 billion, a PE ratio of 15.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.89 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a 50 day moving average of $76.19 and a 200-day moving average of $73.44. ONEOK has a 1-year low of $64.02 and a 1-year high of $103.64.

ONEOK Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 2nd were issued a $1.07 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 2nd. This represents a $4.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.0%. This is a boost from ONEOK’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. ONEOK’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 78.68%.

About ONEOK

ONEOK, Inc (NYSE: OKE) is a publicly traded midstream energy company headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The company owns and operates a portfolio of natural gas and natural gas liquids (NGL) pipelines, processing facilities, fractionators and storage and terminal assets. Its operations are focused on gathering, processing, transporting, fractionating and marketing NGLs and interstate natural gas, providing critical infrastructure that connects hydrocarbon production to refineries, petrochemical plants and other end markets.

ONEOK’s asset base includes pipeline systems and processing plants that move and condition natural gas, along with infrastructure for the transportation, storage and fractionation of NGLs such as ethane, propane and butane.