ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the sixteen ratings firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, eight have issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $103.07.

OKE has been the subject of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of ONEOK from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of ONEOK from $102.00 to $93.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of ONEOK from $110.00 to $102.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of ONEOK from $110.00 to $107.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of ONEOK from $111.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 25th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Greenline Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of ONEOK during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. First Pacific Financial bought a new position in shares of ONEOK during the first quarter worth $34,000. Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in ONEOK during the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. Financial Network Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in ONEOK by 2,466.7% during the 1st quarter. Financial Network Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 385 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 370 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in ONEOK during the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.13% of the company’s stock.

ONEOK Stock Performance

OKE opened at $79.20 on Thursday. ONEOK has a twelve month low of $75.48 and a twelve month high of $118.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $49.86 billion, a PE ratio of 15.47, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $81.96 and its 200 day moving average price is $90.46.

ONEOK (NYSE:OKE) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by ($0.24). The firm 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 firm earned $1.09 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that ONEOK will post 5.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ONEOK Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 1st will be issued a $1.03 dividend. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.20%. ONEOK’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 80.47%.

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.