ONEOK (NYSE:OKE) Posts Earnings Results

ONEOK (NYSE:OKE) released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday. The utilities provider reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.03, Briefing.com reports. The business had revenue of $4.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.84 billion. ONEOK had a net margin of 15.04% and a return on equity of 22.57%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.34 EPS. ONEOK updated its FY24 guidance to $4.92 EPS and its FY 2024 guidance to 4.920-4.920 EPS.

ONEOK Stock Down 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE OKE traded down $1.48 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $77.64. The company had a trading volume of 947,591 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,960,309. ONEOK has a 52-week low of $55.91 and a 52-week high of $81.81. The stock has a market cap of $45.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.94, a PEG ratio of 4.97 and a beta of 1.65. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $78.12 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $71.88.

ONEOK Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be paid a $0.99 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 30th. This represents a $3.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.10%. ONEOK’s dividend payout ratio is currently 71.35%.

Insider Activity at ONEOK

In other news, Director Wayne Thomas Smith bought 2,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $75.25 per share, with a total value of $203,175.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,700 shares in the company, valued at $203,175. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

ONEOK announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, January 17th that authorizes the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the utilities provider to buy up to 4.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on OKE. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded ONEOK from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Barclays increased their target price on ONEOK from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. UBS Group lifted their target price on ONEOK from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. StockNews.com raised shares of ONEOK from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, US Capital Advisors cut shares of ONEOK from an “overweight” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $82.25.

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.