Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Increases Holdings in ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System boosted its stake in ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE) by 1.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 542,998 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,842 shares during the period. ONEOK makes up about 0.8% of Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System owned approximately 0.09% of ONEOK worth $41,876,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of ONEOK by 10.3% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 59,237,038 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,757,405,000 after buying an additional 5,525,010 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of ONEOK during the fourth quarter worth $297,948,000. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its stake in shares of ONEOK by 37.7% in the third quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 13,292,341 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $843,133,000 after purchasing an additional 3,636,660 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in ONEOK by 5,247.1% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,463,929 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $173,017,000 after purchasing an additional 2,417,849 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in ONEOK by 21.0% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,408,725 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $871,341,000 after buying an additional 2,153,295 shares during the period. 69.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

ONEOK Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:OKE traded up $0.47 during trading on Thursday, hitting $82.80. 1,564,905 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,518,106. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The business’s fifty day moving average is $80.26 and its 200-day moving average is $76.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $48.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.26, a PEG ratio of 4.41 and a beta of 1.65. ONEOK, Inc. has a one year low of $60.52 and a one year high of $83.31.

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

ONEOK Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 1st were paid a dividend of $0.99 per share. This represents a $3.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.78%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 30th. ONEOK’s payout ratio is 92.09%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

OKE has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on ONEOK from $81.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. US Capital Advisors lowered ONEOK from an “overweight” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of ONEOK from $81.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of ONEOK from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. Finally, Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of ONEOK from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, ONEOK currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $84.50.

About ONEOK

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.