JPMorgan Chase & Co. Raises ONEOK (NYSE:OKE) Price Target to $89.00

ONEOK (NYSE:OKE) had its price objective increased by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $88.00 to $89.00 in a research note released on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. US Capital Advisors downgraded shares of ONEOK from an overweight rating to a hold rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. Citigroup upped their target price on ONEOK from $73.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Seaport Res Ptn raised ONEOK from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on ONEOK from $81.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded ONEOK from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, ONEOK has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $83.58.

ONEOK Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of ONEOK stock traded up $0.84 during trading on Friday, reaching $78.07. The company had a trading volume of 2,199,347 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,979,145. The company has a market cap of $45.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 1.64. ONEOK has a fifty-two week low of $55.91 and a fifty-two week high of $81.81. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $78.34 and its 200-day moving average is $72.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.70.

ONEOK (NYSE:OKE) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.03. ONEOK had a return on equity of 15.94% and a net margin of 12.54%. The company had revenue of $4.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.84 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.34 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that ONEOK will post 4.95 EPS for the current year.

ONEOK declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, January 17th that permits the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the utilities provider to purchase up to 4.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

ONEOK Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 30th. This represents a $3.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.07%. ONEOK’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 92.09%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Trading of ONEOK

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in ONEOK by 10.3% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 59,237,038 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,757,405,000 after acquiring an additional 5,525,010 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its stake in shares of ONEOK by 37.7% in the 3rd quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 13,292,341 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $843,133,000 after purchasing an additional 3,636,660 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in ONEOK by 21.0% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,408,725 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $871,341,000 after purchasing an additional 2,153,295 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its position in ONEOK by 20.3% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 8,660,013 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $549,305,000 after buying an additional 1,458,392 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in ONEOK by 65.9% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,132,301 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $515,832,000 after buying an additional 3,229,046 shares in the last quarter. 69.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.