Faithward Advisors LLC Buys 433 Shares of ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE)

Faithward Advisors LLC boosted its position in ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE) by 0.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 50,179 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 433 shares during the period. ONEOK makes up approximately 0.9% of Faithward Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest holding. Faithward Advisors LLC’s holdings in ONEOK were worth $5,038,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in ONEOK during the 4th quarter worth about $539,554,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in ONEOK by 433.4% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,206,906 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $422,373,000 after acquiring an additional 3,418,207 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in ONEOK in the 4th quarter valued at about $182,694,000. ClearBridge Investments Ltd purchased a new stake in ONEOK in the 4th quarter valued at about $177,045,000. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp raised its stake in shares of ONEOK by 445.4% in the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 1,526,899 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $153,319,000 after acquiring an additional 1,246,963 shares during the period. 69.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

ONEOK Stock Performance

ONEOK stock opened at $80.72 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.59. The company has a market cap of $50.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.77 and a beta of 1.20. ONEOK, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $75.48 and a fifty-two week high of $118.07. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $96.69 and its 200-day simple moving average is $100.21.

ONEOK (NYSE:OKE) last released its earnings results on Monday, February 24th. The utilities provider reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $7 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.18 billion. ONEOK had a return on equity of 16.84% and a net margin of 14.05%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that ONEOK, Inc. will post 5.07 EPS for the current year.

ONEOK Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were given a dividend of $1.03 per share. This is a positive change from ONEOK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.99. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.10%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. ONEOK’s payout ratio is 79.69%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on OKE. Barclays lowered their target price on ONEOK from $105.00 to $101.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of ONEOK in a research report on Friday, February 28th. They set a “buy” rating and a $110.00 price objective for the company. US Capital Advisors raised ONEOK from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Wolfe Research raised shares of ONEOK from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $110.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on ONEOK from $111.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, ONEOK currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $105.00.

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.