Earnest Partners LLC Trims Holdings in ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE)

Earnest Partners LLC cut its holdings in ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE - Free Report) by 6.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 278,105 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 18,116 shares during the quarter. Earnest Partners LLC's holdings in ONEOK were worth $27,922,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mission Creek Capital Partners Inc. bought a new position in shares of ONEOK during the fourth quarter worth about $210,000. Boothbay Fund Management LLC increased its stake in ONEOK by 211.1% during the 4th quarter. Boothbay Fund Management LLC now owns 43,233 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $4,341,000 after acquiring an additional 29,334 shares during the period. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of ONEOK by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 41,008 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $4,117,000 after acquiring an additional 1,061 shares during the period. Rothschild Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in ONEOK in the fourth quarter valued at about $211,000. Finally, Hancock Whitney Corp lifted its stake in shares of ONEOK by 7.8% in the 4th quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 5,196 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $522,000 after acquiring an additional 376 shares during the last quarter. 69.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

ONEOK Stock Performance

OKE traded down $5.76 on Wednesday, reaching $82.10. The stock had a trading volume of 7,056,260 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,199,076. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59. ONEOK, Inc. has a 12-month low of $75.48 and a 12-month high of $118.07. The business's 50-day moving average price is $91.59 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $98.91. The company has a market cap of $51.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.77 and a beta of 1.20.

ONEOK (NYSE:OKE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.28 by ($0.24). ONEOK had a return on equity of 16.84% and a net margin of 14.05%. The firm had revenue of $6.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.23 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.09 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that ONEOK, Inc. will post 5.07 earnings per share for the current year.

ONEOK Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 5th will be paid a dividend of $1.03 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 5th. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.02%. ONEOK's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 79.69%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

OKE has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. US Capital Advisors raised ONEOK from a "moderate buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on ONEOK from $107.00 to $102.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of ONEOK from $105.00 to $101.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Wolfe Research raised shares of ONEOK from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $110.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Citigroup started coverage on ONEOK in a research note on Friday, February 28th. They set a "buy" rating and a $110.00 price objective on the stock. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, ONEOK presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $106.25.

ONEOK 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.