ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE) have received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the sixteen ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $101.00.

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on OKE shares. Morgan Stanley raised ONEOK from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $103.00 to $111.00 in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of ONEOK from $100.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on ONEOK from $89.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on ONEOK from $88.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on ONEOK from $94.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th.

ONEOK Price Performance

ONEOK stock opened at $110.51 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $64.56 billion, a PE ratio of 23.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.59 and a beta of 1.69. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $101.36 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $90.52. ONEOK has a one year low of $65.49 and a one year high of $118.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.59.

ONEOK (NYSE:OKE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.23 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $5.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.81 billion. ONEOK had a net margin of 14.05% and a return on equity of 16.84%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.99 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that ONEOK will post 5.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ONEOK Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 1st were given a $0.99 dividend. This represents a $3.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 1st. ONEOK’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 82.85%.

Insider Activity

In other ONEOK news, Director Pattye L. Moore sold 3,379 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.01, for a total transaction of $310,901.79. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of ONEOK

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in OKE. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of ONEOK in the second quarter valued at about $28,000. Matrix Trust Co acquired a new position in ONEOK in the third quarter valued at $29,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of ONEOK in the second quarter worth approximately $31,000. Access Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of ONEOK during the 3rd quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, Values First Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in ONEOK during the third quarter valued at about $44,000. 69.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.