ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the sixteen research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and nine have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $101.00.

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on OKE shares. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on ONEOK from $89.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. US Capital Advisors raised ONEOK from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of ONEOK from $85.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of ONEOK from $94.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Mizuho upgraded shares of ONEOK to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th.

ONEOK Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:OKE opened at $100.83 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $104.56 and its 200 day moving average is $93.33. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59. ONEOK has a 52 week low of $67.05 and a 52 week high of $118.07. The stock has a market cap of $58.90 billion, a PE ratio of 21.09, a PEG ratio of 5.24 and a beta of 1.69.

ONEOK (NYSE:OKE) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.23 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $5.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.81 billion. ONEOK had a return on equity of 16.84% and a net margin of 14.05%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.99 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that ONEOK will post 5.1 earnings per share for the current year.

ONEOK Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Friday, November 1st were issued a $0.99 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 1st. This represents a $3.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.93%. ONEOK’s payout ratio is 82.85%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in OKE. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in ONEOK in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Matrix Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of ONEOK in the third quarter worth $29,000. Access Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in ONEOK during the third quarter valued at $37,000. Values First Advisors Inc. bought a new position in ONEOK in the third quarter valued at about $44,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC boosted its position in ONEOK by 37.4% in the third quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 496 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.13% of the company’s stock.

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.