Federated Hermes Inc. Purchases 38,560 Shares of ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE)

Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its position in ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE - Free Report) by 31.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 160,596 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 38,560 shares during the quarter. Federated Hermes Inc.'s holdings in ONEOK were worth $11,277,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in ONEOK by 10.3% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 59,237,038 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,757,405,000 after purchasing an additional 5,525,010 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG grew its stake in ONEOK by 37.7% during the 3rd quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 13,292,341 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $843,133,000 after purchasing an additional 3,636,660 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in ONEOK by 9.5% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,255,430 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $650,502,000 after purchasing an additional 889,110 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in ONEOK by 20.3% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 8,660,013 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $549,305,000 after purchasing an additional 1,458,392 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in ONEOK by 65.9% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,132,301 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $515,832,000 after purchasing an additional 3,229,046 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.13% of the company's stock.

ONEOK Trading Up 0.7 %

OKE stock traded up $0.60 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $80.95. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,820,422 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,003,279. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. ONEOK, Inc. has a 12 month low of $55.91 and a 12 month high of $81.12. The business's 50 day moving average price is $77.16 and its 200 day moving average price is $71.41. The company has a market cap of $47.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.88 and a beta of 1.65.

ONEOK (NYSE:OKE - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.08 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that ONEOK, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

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

ONEOK Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be issued a $0.99 dividend. This represents a $3.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 30th. ONEOK's payout ratio is currently 71.35%.

Insider Transactions at ONEOK

In related news, Director Wayne Thomas Smith acquired 2,700 shares of ONEOK stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The stock was bought at an average price of $75.25 per share, with a total value of $203,175.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,700 shares in the company, valued at $203,175. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

OKE has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Mizuho upped their target price on ONEOK from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. US Capital Advisors lowered ONEOK from an "overweight" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted 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. StockNews.com upgraded ONEOK from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on ONEOK from $81.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, ONEOK has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $82.25.

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.