ONEOK (NYSE:OKE) Lifted to “Hold” at StockNews.com

09 Mar 2024, 09:50 by Mitch Edgeman · The Markets Daily

StockNews.com upgraded shares of ONEOK (NYSE:OKE – Free Report) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Wednesday.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on OKE. Wolfe Research raised shares of ONEOK from an underperform rating to a peer perform rating in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of ONEOK from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of ONEOK from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. Mizuho reissued a neutral rating and issued a $75.00 target price (up from $72.00) on shares of ONEOK in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Finally, Raymond James raised their target price on shares of ONEOK from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Friday, January 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $79.10.

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ONEOK Price Performance

NYSE OKE opened at $77.16 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $45.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.90, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.65. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. ONEOK has a 12 month low of $55.91 and a 12 month high of $78.18. The company’s 50 day moving average is $71.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $68.26.

ONEOK (NYSE:OKE – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.21 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $5.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.57 billion. ONEOK had a net margin of 15.04% and a return on equity of 22.57%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.08 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that ONEOK will post 4.95 earnings per share for the current year.

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

ONEOK Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 30th were paid a dividend of $0.99 per share. This represents a $3.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.13%. This is a positive change from ONEOK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.96. The ex-dividend date was Monday, January 29th. ONEOK’s payout ratio is presently 71.35%.

Insider Transactions at ONEOK

In other ONEOK news, Director Wayne Thomas Smith bought 2,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $75.25 per share, for a total transaction of $203,175.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 2,700 shares in the company, valued at $203,175. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other ONEOK news, Director Wayne Thomas Smith bought 2,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $75.25 per share, for a total transaction of $203,175.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 2,700 shares in the company, valued at $203,175. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Eduardo A. Rodriguez sold 800 shares of ONEOK stock in a transaction on Friday, December 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.29, for a total value of $56,232.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 25,154 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,768,074.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.65% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of ONEOK

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in OKE. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of ONEOK by 118,109.3% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 22,562,603 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,482,363,000 after acquiring an additional 22,543,516 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in ONEOK by 17.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 69,676,934 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,892,714,000 after purchasing an additional 10,439,896 shares in the last quarter. Cowa LLC raised its holdings in ONEOK by 9,775.0% in the first quarter. Cowa LLC now owns 5,324,428 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,761,000 after purchasing an additional 5,270,510 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in ONEOK in the fourth quarter worth about $297,948,000. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG raised its holdings in ONEOK by 37.7% in the third quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 13,292,341 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $843,133,000 after purchasing an additional 3,636,660 shares in the last quarter. 68.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

ONEOK Company Profile

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