ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE) Stake Boosted by Earnest Partners LLC

Earnest Partners LLC increased its stake in ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE) by 6.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 298,162 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 17,784 shares during the quarter. Earnest Partners LLC owned approximately 0.05% of ONEOK worth $23,904,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in ONEOK by 21.0% in 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 purchasing an additional 2,153,295 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in ONEOK by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,754,127 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $404,055,000 after acquiring an additional 85,736 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in ONEOK during the 4th quarter worth about $297,948,000. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP boosted its position in ONEOK by 28.7% during the 1st quarter. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP now owns 3,705,367 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $297,059,000 after acquiring an additional 825,464 shares during the period. Finally, First Eagle Investment Management LLC boosted its position in ONEOK by 12.3% during the 1st quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 3,465,068 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $277,795,000 after acquiring an additional 378,509 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.13% of the company’s stock.

ONEOK Stock Performance

Shares of OKE traded up $0.19 on Monday, reaching $82.21. 2,147,472 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,752,819. The firm has a market cap of $47.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.07, a P/E/G ratio of 4.33 and a beta of 1.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.48. ONEOK, Inc. has a 12 month low of $60.58 and a 12 month high of $86.20. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $81.39 and its 200-day moving average price is $77.69.

ONEOK (NYSE:OKE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $4.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.84 billion. ONEOK had a return on equity of 15.94% and a net margin of 12.54%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.34 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that ONEOK, Inc. will post 5.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ONEOK Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 1st will be paid a $0.99 dividend. This represents a $3.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.82%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 1st. ONEOK’s dividend payout ratio is 92.09%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on OKE shares. Tudor Pickering upgraded ONEOK to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on ONEOK from $89.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. Mizuho raised their price objective on ONEOK from $81.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on ONEOK from $90.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on ONEOK from $81.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, ONEOK has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $84.83.

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.