ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE) Receives Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE - Get Free Report) has received a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the fifteen brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, eight have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $103.69.

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Barclays cut their price objective on ONEOK from $101.00 to $91.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on ONEOK from $110.00 to $107.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on ONEOK from $102.00 to $93.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on ONEOK from $111.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Scotiabank cut their target price on ONEOK from $96.00 to $93.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 5th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ONEOK

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of ONEOK during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $539,554,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of ONEOK by 7.2% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 75,196,969 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $7,461,043,000 after buying an additional 5,076,705 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of ONEOK in the first quarter worth about $440,535,000. Boston Partners bought a new position in shares of ONEOK in the first quarter worth about $353,596,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of ONEOK by 433.4% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,206,906 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $422,373,000 after purchasing an additional 3,418,207 shares in the last quarter. 69.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

ONEOK Stock Up 1.3%

Shares of NYSE OKE traded up $1.08 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $82.25. The company had a trading volume of 7,502,414 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,407,210. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $83.00 and a two-hundred day moving average of $93.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 0.67. The company has a market capitalization of $51.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.06, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.94. ONEOK has a 12-month low of $75.48 and a 12-month high of $118.07.

ONEOK (NYSE:OKE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.28 by ($0.24). The company had revenue of $6.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.23 billion. ONEOK had a net margin of 12.15% and a return on equity of 15.58%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.09 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that ONEOK will post 5.07 EPS for the current year.

ONEOK Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 5th were issued a dividend of $1.03 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 5th. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.01%. ONEOK's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 80.47%.

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.