ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE) Announces $0.99 Quarterly Dividend

ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE - Get Free Report) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, April 18th, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be given a dividend of 0.99 per share by the utilities provider on Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $3.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.08%.

ONEOK has increased its dividend payment by an average of 0.7% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 2 years. ONEOK has a payout ratio of 72.3% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect ONEOK to earn $5.52 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.96 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 71.7%.

ONEOK Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of ONEOK stock traded up $0.20 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $77.88. 2,304,939 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,035,107. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $76.53 and a 200-day simple moving average of $70.91. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The company has a market cap of $45.45 billion, a PE ratio of 14.03, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.65. ONEOK has a twelve month low of $55.91 and a twelve month high of $80.81.

ONEOK (NYSE:OKE - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.21 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $5.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.57 billion. ONEOK had a net margin of 15.04% and a return on equity of 22.57%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.08 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that ONEOK will post 4.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

OKE has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Raymond James raised their target price on ONEOK from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 19th. UBS Group lifted their price target on ONEOK from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on ONEOK from $81.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday. US Capital Advisors downgraded ONEOK from an "overweight" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on ONEOK from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. One equities 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $82.25.

Insider Buying and Selling at ONEOK

In related news, Director Wayne Thomas Smith bought 2,700 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was bought at an average cost of $75.25 per share, for a total transaction of $203,175.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 2,700 shares in the company, valued at approximately $203,175. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ONEOK

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in OKE. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of ONEOK by 118,109.3% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 22,562,603 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,482,363,000 after buying an additional 22,543,516 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of ONEOK by 17.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 69,676,934 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $4,892,714,000 after buying an additional 10,439,896 shares in the last quarter. Cowa LLC increased its holdings in shares of ONEOK by 9,775.0% in the first quarter. Cowa LLC now owns 5,324,428 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,761,000 after buying an additional 5,270,510 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of ONEOK in the fourth quarter valued at $139,536,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in shares of ONEOK by 35.7% in the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 5,978,583 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $419,816,000 after buying an additional 1,574,198 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.13% of the company's stock.

ONEOK announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, January 17th that allows the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the utilities provider to purchase up to 4.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.