J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. Acquires 1,430 Shares of ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE)

J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE) by 16.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,277 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,430 shares during the period. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc.’s holdings in ONEOK were worth $722,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Greenleaf Trust grew its holdings in ONEOK by 7.4% during the fourth quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 9,352 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $657,000 after purchasing an additional 646 shares during the period. RIA Advisory Group LLC bought a new position in ONEOK during the fourth quarter valued at $2,310,000. First National Bank & Trust Co. of Newtown bought a new position in ONEOK during the fourth quarter valued at $204,000. Andrew Hill Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in ONEOK during the fourth quarter valued at $3,585,000. Finally, Fidelis Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in ONEOK by 9.6% during the fourth quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,238 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $438,000 after purchasing an additional 548 shares during the period. 69.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

ONEOK Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of OKE stock opened at $79.90 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $76.94 and its 200 day moving average is $71.29. ONEOK, Inc. has a 52-week low of $55.91 and a 52-week high of $80.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.90. The company has a market capitalization of $46.63 billion, a PE ratio of 14.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.87 and a beta of 1.65.

ONEOK (NYSE:OKE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.21 by ($0.03). ONEOK had a net margin of 15.04% and a return on equity of 22.57%. The firm had revenue of $5.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.57 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.08 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that ONEOK, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ONEOK Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.99 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 30th. This represents a $3.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.96%. ONEOK’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 71.35%.

ONEOK announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, January 17th that allows the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the utilities provider to purchase up to 4.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on OKE shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on ONEOK from $81.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Truist Financial increased their target price on ONEOK from $71.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Wolfe Research upgraded ONEOK from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on ONEOK from $84.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded ONEOK from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $82.25.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Wayne Thomas Smith acquired 2,700 shares of ONEOK stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $75.25 per share, with a total value of $203,175.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 2,700 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $203,175. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

ONEOK 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.