Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY Purchases 153,727 Shares of ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE)

Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY boosted its holdings in shares of ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE - Free Report) by 102.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 304,464 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 153,727 shares during the quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY owned approximately 0.05% of ONEOK worth $21,379,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in ONEOK by 275.5% during the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 2,850 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $201,000 after buying an additional 2,091 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. boosted its position in shares of ONEOK by 6.6% in the first quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 5,339 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $377,000 after acquiring an additional 331 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. boosted its position in shares of ONEOK by 500.5% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 167,226 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $11,812,000 after acquiring an additional 139,379 shares during the last quarter. Aviva PLC boosted its position in shares of ONEOK by 20.7% in the first quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 161,711 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $11,422,000 after acquiring an additional 27,697 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Prudential PLC purchased a new stake in ONEOK during the first quarter worth approximately $614,000. 69.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

ONEOK Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of ONEOK stock traded down $0.11 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $79.88. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,676,187 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,029,250. 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 $46.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.65. ONEOK, Inc. has a 1-year low of $55.91 and a 1-year high of $80.81. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $74.95 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $70.24.

ONEOK (NYSE:OKE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.21 by ($0.03). ONEOK had a net margin of 15.04% and a return on equity of 22.57%. The company had revenue of $5.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.57 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.08 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that ONEOK, Inc. will post 4.62 earnings per share for the current year.

ONEOK Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 30th were given a $0.99 dividend. This is a positive change from ONEOK's previous quarterly dividend of $0.96. The ex-dividend date was Monday, January 29th. This represents a $3.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.96%. ONEOK's payout ratio is presently 71.35%.

ONEOK declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, January 17th that permits the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the utilities provider to reacquire up to 4.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

OKE has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. US Capital Advisors cut shares of ONEOK from an "overweight" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of ONEOK from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of ONEOK from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Raymond James lifted their price objective on ONEOK from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 19th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on ONEOK from $73.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $81.73.

Insider Transactions at ONEOK

In other news, Director Wayne Thomas Smith acquired 2,700 shares of ONEOK stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The stock was purchased at an average price of $75.25 per share, for a total transaction of $203,175.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,700 shares in the company, valued at $203,175. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company's stock.

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.