Earnest Partners LLC Sells 2,303 Shares of ONEOK, Inc. $OKE

Earnest Partners LLC lowered its position in shares of ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE) by 0.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 275,802 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,303 shares during the quarter. Earnest Partners LLC’s holdings in ONEOK were worth $27,365,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Merit Financial Group LLC grew its stake in ONEOK by 11.4% during the first quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 11,505 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,142,000 after purchasing an additional 1,180 shares during the period. Capital Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of ONEOK by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 289,997 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $28,774,000 after buying an additional 10,957 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund increased its stake in shares of ONEOK by 146.9% in the 1st quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund now owns 18,033 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,789,000 after acquiring an additional 10,728 shares in the last quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc boosted its stake in ONEOK by 6.0% during the fourth quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 340,480 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $34,184,000 after acquiring an additional 19,199 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Advisor Resource Council acquired a new stake in ONEOK in the first quarter worth $511,000. 69.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

ONEOK Price Performance

OKE opened at $75.12 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $78.93 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $85.35. The company has a market capitalization of $47.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 0.59 and a quick ratio of 0.46. ONEOK, Inc. has a 1 year low of $72.18 and a 1 year high of $118.07.

ONEOK (NYSE:OKE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.01. ONEOK had a net margin of 11.06% and a return on equity of 14.90%. The company had revenue of $8.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.20 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.33 earnings per share. ONEOK has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.370-5.370 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that ONEOK, Inc. will post 5.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ONEOK Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 1st were issued a $1.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 1st. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.5%. ONEOK’s dividend payout ratio is currently 80.31%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Scotiabank set a $92.00 price objective on shares of ONEOK and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price target on ONEOK from $94.00 to $88.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on ONEOK from $110.00 to $102.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on ONEOK from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of ONEOK from $102.00 to $93.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, ONEOK has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $101.93.

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.