ONEOK (NYSE:OKE) Given New $85.00 Price Target at Wells Fargo & Company

ONEOK (NYSE:OKE) had its target price raised by Wells Fargo & Company from $81.00 to $85.00 in a report issued on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

OKE has been the topic of a number of other research reports. StockNews.com raised shares of ONEOK from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. UBS Group upped their price objective on ONEOK from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on ONEOK from $84.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Citigroup upped their price target on ONEOK from $73.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on ONEOK from $81.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. One 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. According to MarketBeat.com, ONEOK presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $83.58.

ONEOK Stock Performance

OKE stock traded up $0.28 on Thursday, hitting $77.23. The company had a trading volume of 2,235,558 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,820,855. The company has a current ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. ONEOK has a 12-month low of $55.91 and a 12-month high of $81.81. The stock has a market cap of $45.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.96, a P/E/G ratio of 4.11 and a beta of 1.64. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $78.25 and its 200 day simple moving average is $71.95.

ONEOK (NYSE:OKE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $1.09 earnings per share (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 firm had revenue of $4.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.84 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.34 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that ONEOK will post 4.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

ONEOK Announces Dividend

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. This represents a $3.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.13%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 30th. ONEOK’s payout ratio is currently 92.09%.

Insider Transactions at ONEOK

In other news, Director Wayne Thomas Smith bought 2,700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $75.25 per share, for a total transaction of $203,175.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 2,700 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $203,175. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of ONEOK

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. SPC Financial Inc. grew its holdings in ONEOK by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. SPC Financial Inc. now owns 31,188 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,500,000 after purchasing an additional 362 shares during the last quarter. Disciplined Equity Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of ONEOK by 48.4% during the first quarter. Disciplined Equity Management Inc. now owns 25,105 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,013,000 after buying an additional 8,190 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of ONEOK by 1.7% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 40,731 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,265,000 after buying an additional 685 shares during the last quarter. Csenge Advisory Group raised its holdings in shares of ONEOK by 3.3% in the first quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 12,029 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $964,000 after buying an additional 386 shares during the period. Finally, Catalina Capital Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of ONEOK during the 1st quarter worth approximately $282,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.13% of the company’s stock.

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.