Federated Hermes Inc. Has $11.28 Million Stock Position in ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE)

Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its holdings in ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE) by 31.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 160,596 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 38,560 shares during the quarter. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in ONEOK were worth $11,277,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of OKE. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in ONEOK by 5.7% in the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 53,046 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,365,000 after buying an additional 2,873 shares in the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its stake in ONEOK by 20.3% in the third quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 76,601 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,857,000 after buying an additional 12,905 shares in the last quarter. Naples Global Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in ONEOK in the third quarter valued at about $233,000. Ziegler Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in ONEOK in the third quarter valued at about $1,364,000. Finally, DAVENPORT & Co LLC boosted its stake in ONEOK by 67.9% in the third quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 39,121 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,483,000 after buying an additional 15,819 shares in the last quarter. 69.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on OKE shares. Seaport Res Ptn raised ONEOK from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. StockNews.com raised ONEOK from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. US Capital Advisors lowered ONEOK from an “overweight” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. UBS Group lifted their price target on ONEOK from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price target on ONEOK from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $82.25.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other ONEOK news, Director Wayne Thomas Smith bought 2,700 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $75.25 per share, for a total transaction of $203,175.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 2,700 shares in the company, valued at approximately $203,175. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

ONEOK Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of OKE stock opened at $80.35 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $46.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.48, a PEG ratio of 4.88 and a beta of 1.65. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $77.16 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $71.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.90. ONEOK, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $55.91 and a fifty-two week high of $80.84.

ONEOK (NYSE:OKE) last issued its earnings results on Monday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.21 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $5.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.57 billion. ONEOK had a return on equity of 22.57% and a net margin of 15.04%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.08 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that ONEOK, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

ONEOK Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be issued a $0.99 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 30th. This represents a $3.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.93%. ONEOK’s payout ratio is currently 71.35%.

ONEOK announced that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, January 17th that permits the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the utilities provider to buy up to 4.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.