Cerity Partners LLC Raises Position in ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE)

Cerity Partners LLC grew its holdings in ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE - Free Report) by 56.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 124,389 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 45,039 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC's holdings in ONEOK were worth $8,734,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of OKE. Peoples Bank KS bought a new stake in shares of ONEOK during the third quarter worth $25,000. First Command Bank raised its position in shares of ONEOK by 401.0% during the second quarter. First Command Bank now owns 491 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 393 shares during the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC raised its position in shares of ONEOK by 97.7% during the third quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 437 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of ONEOK by 90.7% during the fourth quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 408 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 194 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of ONEOK during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.13% of the company's stock.

ONEOK Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of OKE stock traded down $0.85 on Monday, hitting $77.85. 2,667,580 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,041,595. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.65. The business has a 50-day moving average of $75.99 and a 200 day moving average of $70.72. ONEOK, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $55.91 and a fifty-two week high of $80.81.

ONEOK (NYSE:OKE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $5.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.57 billion. ONEOK had a return on equity of 22.57% and a net margin of 15.04%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.08 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that ONEOK, Inc. will post 4.98 EPS for the current year.

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

ONEOK Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 30th were paid a $0.99 dividend. This represents a $3.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.09%. This is an increase from ONEOK's previous quarterly dividend of $0.96. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, January 29th. ONEOK's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 71.35%.

Insider Buying and Selling at ONEOK

In related news, Director Wayne Thomas Smith purchased 2,700 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was purchased 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 $203,175. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

OKE has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on ONEOK from $81.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. UBS Group boosted their target price on ONEOK from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. Citigroup upped their price objective on ONEOK from $73.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. StockNews.com upgraded ONEOK from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded ONEOK from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $81.73.

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.