ONEOK (NYSE:OKE) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results

ONEOK (NYSE:OKE) issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday. The utilities provider reported $1.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.07, Zacks reports. The business had revenue of $9.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.77 billion. ONEOK had a return on equity of 15.12% and a net margin of 10.58%.

ONEOK Stock Up 0.2%

NYSE:OKE traded up $0.20 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $87.53. 4,665,651 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,628,554. The company has a market capitalization of $55.08 billion, a PE ratio of 16.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.90 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $77.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $73.65. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44. ONEOK has a fifty-two week low of $64.02 and a fifty-two week high of $103.64.

ONEOK Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 2nd were given a $1.07 dividend. This is a positive change from ONEOK’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 2nd. This represents a $4.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.9%. ONEOK’s payout ratio is 78.68%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on OKE. Stifel Nicolaus set a $94.00 target price on ONEOK in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $104.00 target price on shares of ONEOK in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on ONEOK from $90.00 to $82.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of ONEOK in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Argus upgraded ONEOK from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $79.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, November 6th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $86.27.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ONEOK

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of OKE. Sunbelt Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of ONEOK by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 14,354 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,055,000 after acquiring an additional 617 shares in the last quarter. Claris Financial LLC purchased a new stake in ONEOK in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $248,000. TMB Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in ONEOK during the 4th quarter worth approximately $294,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of ONEOK by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 9,284,911 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $682,441,000 after buying an additional 365,813 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of ONEOK by 64.0% in the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 353,109 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $25,954,000 after buying an additional 137,772 shares during the period. 69.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About ONEOK

ONEOK, Inc (NYSE: OKE) is a publicly traded midstream energy company headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The company owns and operates a portfolio of natural gas and natural gas liquids (NGL) pipelines, processing facilities, fractionators and storage and terminal assets. Its operations are focused on gathering, processing, transporting, fractionating and marketing NGLs and interstate natural gas, providing critical infrastructure that connects hydrocarbon production to refineries, petrochemical plants and other end markets.

ONEOK’s asset base includes pipeline systems and processing plants that move and condition natural gas, along with infrastructure for the transportation, storage and fractionation of NGLs such as ethane, propane and butane.