Cullen Investment Group LTD. Acquires New Shares in ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE)

Cullen Investment Group LTD. acquired a new stake in shares of ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 13,803 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $969,000.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Peoples Bank KS acquired a new position in shares of ONEOK in the third quarter worth about $25,000. First Command Bank boosted its holdings in shares of ONEOK by 401.0% in the second quarter. First Command Bank now owns 491 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 393 shares during the period. Quent Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of ONEOK by 97.7% in the third quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 437 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 216 shares during the period. Beacon Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 194 shares during the period. Finally, Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of ONEOK during the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Institutional investors own 69.13% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Wayne Thomas Smith bought 2,700 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were acquired at an average price of $75.25 per share, with a total value of $203,175.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 2,700 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $203,175. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

ONEOK Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:OKE traded down $0.78 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $77.07. The stock had a trading volume of 3,633,624 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,050,409. ONEOK, Inc. has a 52 week low of $55.91 and a 52 week high of $80.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.65. 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 stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $76.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $70.81.

ONEOK (NYSE:OKE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $1.18 EPS 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 firm had revenue of $5.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.57 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.08 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that ONEOK, Inc. will post 4.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ONEOK announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, January 17th that allows the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the utilities provider to reacquire up to 4.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

ONEOK Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 30th were given a dividend of $0.99 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, January 29th. This represents a $3.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.14%. This is a positive change from ONEOK's previous quarterly dividend of $0.96. ONEOK's payout ratio is 71.35%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on OKE. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of ONEOK from $71.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of ONEOK from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of ONEOK from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of ONEOK from $81.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, US Capital Advisors lowered shares of ONEOK from an "overweight" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, ONEOK has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $82.25.

ONEOK Company 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.