ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE) has earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen analysts that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, seven have assigned a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $104.67.

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of ONEOK from $102.00 to $93.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Scotiabank decreased their price target on shares of ONEOK from $96.00 to $93.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of ONEOK from $110.00 to $102.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of ONEOK from $101.00 to $91.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of ONEOK from $111.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th.

ONEOK Trading Up 1.4%

Shares of OKE stock opened at $81.30 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.52. The firm has a market cap of $51.18 billion, a PE ratio of 15.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a 50-day moving average of $82.67 and a two-hundred day moving average of $92.46. ONEOK has a 1-year low of $75.48 and a 1-year high of $118.07.

ONEOK (NYSE:OKE) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.28 by ($0.24). The company had revenue of $6.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.23 billion. ONEOK had a return on equity of 15.58% and a net margin of 12.15%. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.09 EPS. On average, analysts predict that ONEOK will post 5.07 EPS for the current year.

ONEOK Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 5th were paid a $1.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 5th. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.07%. ONEOK’s dividend payout ratio is currently 80.47%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ONEOK

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC acquired a new stake in ONEOK in the 4th quarter valued at about $931,000. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in ONEOK by 137.1% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 15,278 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,534,000 after acquiring an additional 8,834 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. grew its stake in ONEOK by 16.6% in the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 3,954 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $397,000 after acquiring an additional 563 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC grew its stake in ONEOK by 16.4% in the 4th quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 77,746 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,806,000 after acquiring an additional 10,927 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Waterfront Wealth Inc. acquired a new stake in ONEOK in the 4th quarter valued at about $207,000. 69.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

ONEOK Company 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.