Tower Research Capital LLC TRC Purchases 36,972 Shares of ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE)

Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its position in ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE) by 240.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 52,329 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 36,972 shares during the quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC’s holdings in ONEOK were worth $5,254,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of ONEOK by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 70,120,264 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,040,075,000 after acquiring an additional 558,789 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in ONEOK by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 18,414,781 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,848,844,000 after purchasing an additional 934,007 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in ONEOK by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,037,890 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,405,697,000 after purchasing an additional 357,015 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of ONEOK during the fourth quarter valued at about $539,554,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of ONEOK by 433.4% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,206,906 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $422,373,000 after buying an additional 3,418,207 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.13% of the company’s stock.

ONEOK Stock Up 1.6 %

NYSE:OKE opened at $86.19 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $93.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $99.40. The firm has a market cap of $53.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.03, a P/E/G ratio of 3.77 and a beta of 1.20. ONEOK, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $75.48 and a fifty-two week high of $118.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.81.

ONEOK (NYSE:OKE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 24th. The utilities provider reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $7 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.18 billion. ONEOK had a net margin of 14.05% and a return on equity of 16.84%. Analysts predict that ONEOK, Inc. will post 5.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ONEOK Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were paid a $1.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.78%. This is a boost from ONEOK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.99. ONEOK’s payout ratio is currently 79.69%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on OKE. Scotiabank decreased their price target on ONEOK from $109.00 to $102.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Citigroup began coverage on shares of ONEOK in a report on Friday, February 28th. They set a “buy” rating and a $110.00 price target for the company. US Capital Advisors raised shares of ONEOK from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Wolfe Research raised shares of ONEOK from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $110.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on ONEOK from $107.00 to $102.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $106.42.

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.