ONEOK (NYSE:OKE) Releases Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.07 EPS

ONEOK (NYSE:OKE) announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday. The utilities provider reported $1.53 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.07, FiscalAI reports. ONEOK had a net margin of 10.03% and a return on equity of 16.06%. The business had revenue of $12.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.95 billion.

ONEOK Stock Down 3.0%

OKE stock traded down $2.76 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $88.05. 4,521,919 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,423,178. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 0.71. The firm has a market cap of $55.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.70, a P/E/G ratio of 4.93 and a beta of 0.73. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $89.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $86.68. ONEOK has a 1-year low of $64.02 and a 1-year high of $96.07.

ONEOK Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Investors of record on Monday, August 3rd will be paid a dividend of $1.07 per share. This represents a $4.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 3rd. ONEOK’s dividend payout ratio is presently 76.29%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen downgraded ONEOK from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $103.00 price objective (down from $113.00) on shares of ONEOK in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Freedom Capital raised ONEOK from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Scotiabank cut ONEOK from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $92.00 to $89.00 in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and set a $92.00 target price on shares of ONEOK in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, ONEOK presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $91.81.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ONEOK

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Man Group plc raised its position in ONEOK by 292.1% during the second quarter. Man Group plc now owns 1,558,993 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $127,261,000 after acquiring an additional 1,161,352 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada grew its position in shares of ONEOK by 70.7% in the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 2,306,880 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $169,557,000 after acquiring an additional 955,100 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC increased its stake in shares of ONEOK by 17.8% during the 4th quarter. Nuveen LLC now owns 4,868,076 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $357,804,000 after purchasing an additional 736,647 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of ONEOK by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 38,450,591 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,826,118,000 after purchasing an additional 648,647 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of ONEOK by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 22,634,512 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,663,637,000 after purchasing an additional 599,248 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 69.13% of the company’s stock.

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.