Diversified LLC Purchases New Shares in ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE)

Diversified LLC purchased a new stake in ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 3,055 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $214,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its position in ONEOK by 16.2% during the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 21,800 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,531,000 after acquiring an additional 3,032 shares during the period. ELCO Management Co. LLC lifted its holdings in shares of ONEOK by 102.3% during the 3rd quarter. ELCO Management Co. LLC now owns 26,432 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,677,000 after buying an additional 13,367 shares during the last quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of ONEOK by 11.4% during the 3rd quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 7,729 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $490,000 after buying an additional 790 shares during the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of ONEOK by 32.1% during the 4th quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 72,394 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,084,000 after buying an additional 17,612 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of ONEOK by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 38,780 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,460,000 after buying an additional 581 shares during the last quarter. 69.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

OKE has been the subject of several research reports. Wolfe Research upgraded ONEOK from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. Mizuho lifted their price target on ONEOK from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. Barclays lifted their price target on ONEOK from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 7th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on ONEOK from $81.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, StockNews.com raised ONEOK from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $82.25.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Wayne Thomas Smith bought 2,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The stock was bought at an average price of $75.25 per share, for a total transaction of $203,175.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,700 shares in the company, valued at approximately $203,175. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

ONEOK Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE OKE opened at $79.90 on Tuesday. 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 business’s 50 day moving average is $76.94 and its two-hundred day moving average is $71.29. The company has a market cap of $46.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.40, a P/E/G ratio of 4.87 and a beta of 1.65. ONEOK, Inc. has a 12 month low of $55.91 and a 12 month high of $80.84.

ONEOK (NYSE:OKE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.21 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $5.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.57 billion. ONEOK had a return on equity of 22.57% and a net margin of 15.04%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.08 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that ONEOK, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

ONEOK Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be given a $0.99 dividend. This represents a $3.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.96%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 30th. ONEOK’s dividend payout ratio is currently 71.35%.

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

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.