Wealthspire Advisors LLC Raises Stake in ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE)

Wealthspire Advisors LLC increased its stake in ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE) by 14.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 61,851 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 7,925 shares during the quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC’s holdings in ONEOK were worth $4,343,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Peoples Bank KS purchased a new stake in ONEOK during the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Beacon Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in ONEOK by 90.7% during the fourth quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 408 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 194 shares during the last quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in ONEOK during the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. lifted its holdings in ONEOK by 283.5% during the fourth quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 510 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 377 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Loomis Sayles & Co. L P lifted its holdings in ONEOK by 605.1% during the third quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 557 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 478 shares during the last quarter. 69.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of ONEOK from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 7th. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of ONEOK from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of ONEOK from $84.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of ONEOK from $81.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of ONEOK from $88.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $83.58.

Insider Buying and Selling at ONEOK

In related news, Director Wayne Thomas Smith acquired 2,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The stock was purchased at an average price of $75.25 per share, with a total value of $203,175.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 2,700 shares in the company, valued at approximately $203,175. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

ONEOK Price Performance

NYSE OKE traded up $0.77 on Wednesday, reaching $79.14. 2,228,498 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,973,266. ONEOK, Inc. has a 12 month low of $55.91 and a 12 month high of $81.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $78.52 and a 200 day simple moving average of $72.18. The stock has a market cap of $46.19 billion, a PE ratio of 18.40, a P/E/G ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 1.64.

ONEOK (NYSE:OKE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.03. ONEOK had a net margin of 12.54% and a return on equity of 15.94%. The business had revenue of $4.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.84 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.34 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that ONEOK, Inc. will post 4.95 earnings per share for the current year.

ONEOK Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be given a dividend of $0.99 per share. This represents a $3.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 30th. ONEOK’s payout ratio is currently 92.09%.

ONEOK announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, January 17th that authorizes the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the utilities provider to reacquire up to 4.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

ONEOK 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.