ONEOK (NYSE:OKE) Cut to “Neutral” at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of ONEOK (NYSE:OKE) from an overweight rating to a neutral rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, Marketbeat reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has $83.00 target price on the utilities provider’s stock, down from their previous target price of $87.00.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on OKE. Barclays reduced their target price on ONEOK from $78.00 to $76.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on ONEOK from $102.00 to $95.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 31st. TD Cowen lowered their target price on ONEOK from $78.00 to $76.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of ONEOK from $114.00 to $103.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Argus raised shares of ONEOK from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $79.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $87.31.

ONEOK Trading Down 1.0%

OKE stock opened at $78.48 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.75. ONEOK has a 1-year low of $64.02 and a 1-year high of $103.64. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $73.83 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $73.47. The company has a market capitalization of $49.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.43, a PEG ratio of 4.53 and a beta of 0.94.

ONEOK (NYSE:OKE) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The utilities provider reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $8.63 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.23 billion. ONEOK had a net margin of 10.58% and a return on equity of 15.12%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.18 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that ONEOK will post 5.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ONEOK Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 2nd will be paid a $1.07 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 2nd. This is an increase from ONEOK’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. This represents a $4.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.5%. ONEOK’s payout ratio is 75.74%.

Insider Activity

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ONEOK

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC grew its position in ONEOK by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 24,358 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,790,000 after acquiring an additional 576 shares during the last quarter. First National Bank & Trust Co. of Newtown boosted its stake in shares of ONEOK by 172.9% during the fourth quarter. First National Bank & Trust Co. of Newtown now owns 7,925 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $582,000 after purchasing an additional 5,021 shares during the period. Aprio Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of ONEOK in the fourth quarter worth about $333,000. D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its stake in ONEOK by 7.2% in the 4th quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 108,902 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $8,004,000 after buying an additional 7,345 shares during the period. Finally, Camelot Portfolios LLC purchased a new position in ONEOK in the 4th quarter worth about $76,000. 69.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

ONEOK Company Profile

ONEOK, Inc (NYSE: OKE) is a publicly traded midstream energy company headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The company owns and operates a portfolio of natural gas and natural gas liquids (NGL) pipelines, processing facilities, fractionators and storage and terminal assets. Its operations are focused on gathering, processing, transporting, fractionating and marketing NGLs and interstate natural gas, providing critical infrastructure that connects hydrocarbon production to refineries, petrochemical plants and other end markets.

ONEOK’s asset base includes pipeline systems and processing plants that move and condition natural gas, along with infrastructure for the transportation, storage and fractionation of NGLs such as ethane, propane and butane.