ONEOK (NYSE:OKE) Downgraded to Neutral Rating by JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of ONEOK (NYSE:OKE) from an overweight rating to a neutral rating in a research report report published on Tuesday, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have $83.00 price target on the utilities provider’s stock, down from their previous price target of $87.00.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of ONEOK in a report on Monday, December 29th. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of ONEOK from $102.00 to $95.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of ONEOK from $90.00 to $82.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $94.00 price objective on shares of ONEOK in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their target price on ONEOK from $78.00 to $76.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $87.69.

ONEOK Price Performance

NYSE:OKE opened at $77.80 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $73.46 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $73.39. ONEOK has a 52 week low of $64.02 and a 52 week high of $103.64. The stock has a market cap of $48.95 billion, a PE ratio of 14.30, a P/E/G ratio of 4.39 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44.

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

ONEOK Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 2nd will be issued a $1.07 dividend. This is a positive change from ONEOK’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 2nd. This represents a $4.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.5%. ONEOK’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 78.68%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Brian L. Derksen purchased 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was bought at an average cost of $66.00 per share, for a total transaction of $165,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 21,200 shares in the company, valued at $1,399,200. This represents a 13.37% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ONEOK

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in OKE. Assetmark Inc. lifted its stake in ONEOK by 84.0% in the second quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 4,047 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $330,000 after acquiring an additional 1,848 shares during the period. Morningstar Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of ONEOK by 18.2% in the 2nd quarter. Morningstar Investment Management LLC now owns 27,375 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,235,000 after purchasing an additional 4,206 shares in the last quarter. Hudson Edge Investment Partners Inc. raised its holdings in shares of ONEOK by 34.1% in the 3rd quarter. Hudson Edge Investment Partners Inc. now owns 87,667 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,397,000 after purchasing an additional 22,282 shares in the last quarter. Meixler Investment Management Ltd. lifted its position in shares of ONEOK by 134.0% in the 2nd quarter. Meixler Investment Management Ltd. now owns 30,937 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,525,000 after purchasing an additional 17,714 shares during the period. Finally, Jackson Hole Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of ONEOK by 24.6% in the 2nd quarter. Jackson Hole Capital Partners LLC now owns 81,923 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,687,000 after purchasing an additional 16,151 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.13% of the company’s stock.

About ONEOK

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.