Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. Raises Stock Position in ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE)

Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. grew its position in ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE - Free Report) by 40.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 693,381 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 199,000 shares during the period. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. owned approximately 0.12% of ONEOK worth $48,689,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

ONEOK Price Performance

Shares of NYSE OKE traded down $2.30 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $79.12. The stock had a trading volume of 4,163,686 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,986,888. The company has a market capitalization of $46.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.95 and a beta of 1.65. ONEOK, Inc. has a 12-month low of $55.91 and a 12-month high of $81.81. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $77.97 and a 200-day moving average of $71.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.90.

ONEOK (NYSE:OKE - Get Free Report) last posted 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). The business had revenue of $5.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.57 billion. ONEOK had a net margin of 15.04% and a return on equity of 22.57%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.08 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that ONEOK, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

ONEOK Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 30th. ONEOK's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 71.35%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Wayne Thomas Smith purchased 2,700 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The shares were acquired at an average price of $75.25 per share, for a total transaction of $203,175.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 2,700 shares in the company, valued at $203,175. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on OKE shares. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of ONEOK from $71.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. US Capital Advisors lowered shares of ONEOK from an "overweight" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. Citigroup raised their price target on ONEOK from $73.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Barclays upped their price objective on ONEOK from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on ONEOK from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. One investment 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $82.25.

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.