ONEOK (NYSE:OKE) Hits New 1-Year High Following Analyst Upgrade

ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday after Barclays raised their price target on the stock from $82.00 to $94.00. Barclays currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. ONEOK traded as high as $93.00 and last traded at $93.00, with a volume of 2035 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $91.37.

OKE has been the topic of several other research reports. Morgan Stanley upgraded ONEOK from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $103.00 to $111.00 in a research report on Monday. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of ONEOK from $81.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Citigroup increased 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. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of ONEOK from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on ONEOK from $84.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $92.38.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Pattye L. Moore sold 3,379 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.01, for a total transaction of $310,901.79. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ONEOK

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in OKE. Verity & Verity LLC raised its holdings in ONEOK by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. Verity & Verity LLC now owns 248,055 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $20,229,000 after purchasing an additional 3,602 shares during the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. raised its stake in ONEOK by 96.8% during the second quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 4,578 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $373,000 after buying an additional 2,252 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new stake in ONEOK during the second quarter valued at $8,828,000. Centennial Bank AR grew its holdings in ONEOK by 11.5% during the 2nd quarter. Centennial Bank AR now owns 2,029 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $165,000 after acquiring an additional 210 shares during the period. Finally, Dana Investment Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of ONEOK by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter. Dana Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 3,868 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $315,000 after acquiring an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. 69.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

ONEOK Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.62. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $86.60 and a 200-day moving average price of $82.14. The company has a market capitalization of $55.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.01, a P/E/G ratio of 4.49 and a beta of 1.67.

ONEOK (NYSE:OKE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.33 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.21 by $0.12. ONEOK had a net margin of 13.41% and a return on equity of 15.54%. The company had revenue of $4.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.52 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.04 EPS. Research analysts predict that ONEOK, Inc. will post 5.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ONEOK Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 1st were issued a dividend of $0.99 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 1st. This represents a $3.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.18%. ONEOK’s dividend payout ratio is currently 92.09%.

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.