Argus Upgrades ONEOK (NYSE:OKE) to Buy

ONEOK (NYSE:OKE) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Argus from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued on Thursday, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage presently has a $79.00 price target on the utilities provider’s stock. Argus’ price objective would indicate a potential upside of 15.92% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other research firms have also issued reports on OKE. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of ONEOK from $102.00 to $95.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Mizuho lowered their price target on ONEOK from $87.00 to $82.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price objective on ONEOK from $94.00 to $88.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $94.00 target price on ONEOK in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on ONEOK from $90.00 to $82.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $91.94.

ONEOK Stock Up 0.5%

ONEOK stock opened at $68.15 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44. ONEOK has a 1-year low of $64.02 and a 1-year high of $118.07. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $70.92 and its 200-day simple moving average is $77.25. The company has a market capitalization of $42.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.05.

ONEOK (NYSE:OKE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 28th. The utilities provider reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.01. ONEOK had a return on equity of 15.12% and a net margin of 10.58%.The business had revenue of $9.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.23 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.18 EPS. ONEOK has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.970-5.770 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that ONEOK will post 5.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at ONEOK

In other news, Director Brian L. Derksen bought 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The stock was bought at an average cost of $66.00 per share, with a total value of $165,000.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 21,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,399,200. This represents a 13.37% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ONEOK

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in OKE. Bogart Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in ONEOK by 3.1% during the second quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 4,031 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $329,000 after acquiring an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. Presima Securities ULC grew its stake in shares of ONEOK by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Presima Securities ULC now owns 9,477 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $940,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC increased its stake in ONEOK by 5.0% in the 1st quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC now owns 2,792 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $277,000 after buying an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in ONEOK by 0.8% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 17,957 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,782,000 after acquiring an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of ONEOK by 5.8% in the second quarter. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. now owns 2,540 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $207,000 after buying an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. 69.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.