Russell Investments Group Ltd. Increases Stock Holdings in ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its holdings in ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE) by 12.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 527,107 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 57,468 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned about 0.09% of ONEOK worth $37,022,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Peoples Bank KS purchased a new position in shares of ONEOK in the third quarter worth about $25,000. Beacon Capital Management LLC raised its position in ONEOK by 90.7% during the 4th quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 408 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 194 shares during the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P lifted its stake in ONEOK by 605.1% during the 3rd quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 557 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 478 shares during the period. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. boosted its holdings in shares of ONEOK by 283.5% in the 4th quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 510 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 377 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Islay Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of ONEOK in the third quarter worth $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.13% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on OKE shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of ONEOK from $81.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. UBS Group upped their target price on ONEOK from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on ONEOK from $81.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Citigroup upped their price objective on ONEOK from $73.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of ONEOK from $84.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $82.25.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Wayne Thomas Smith purchased 2,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $75.25 per share, for a total transaction of $203,175.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,700 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $203,175. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

ONEOK Price Performance

NYSE:OKE opened at $81.41 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $47.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.95 and a beta of 1.65. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $77.97 and a two-hundred day moving average of $71.81. ONEOK, Inc. has a 12 month low of $55.91 and a 12 month high of $81.81. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29.

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

ONEOK Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be paid a $0.99 dividend. This represents a $3.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 30th. ONEOK’s dividend payout ratio is currently 71.35%.

ONEOK declared that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, January 17th that allows the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the utilities provider to repurchase up to 4.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.