NFJ Investment Group LLC Trims Stake in ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE)

NFJ Investment Group LLC trimmed its position in shares of ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE) by 15.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 106,944 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 18,974 shares during the period. NFJ Investment Group LLC’s holdings in ONEOK were worth $10,737,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Morse Asset Management Inc bought a new stake in shares of ONEOK during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $346,000. Barclays PLC increased its stake in ONEOK by 16.1% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,888,864 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $172,131,000 after purchasing an additional 262,486 shares during the period. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of ONEOK during the third quarter worth $2,258,000. Fulcrum Equity Management grew its holdings in shares of ONEOK by 1.1% in the third quarter. Fulcrum Equity Management now owns 46,681 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,254,000 after purchasing an additional 526 shares during the last quarter. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in ONEOK by 154.1% in the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,522 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $959,000 after buying an additional 6,381 shares during the period. 69.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on OKE shares. Citigroup began coverage on shares of ONEOK in a research report on Friday, February 28th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $110.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on ONEOK from $111.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Wolfe Research raised ONEOK from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $110.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on ONEOK from $107.00 to $102.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, US Capital Advisors upgraded ONEOK from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, ONEOK currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $105.00.

ONEOK Trading Up 0.8 %

NYSE:OKE opened at $84.08 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $94.11 and a 200 day moving average of $99.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59. ONEOK, Inc. has a 52 week low of $75.48 and a 52 week high of $118.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $52.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.59, a PEG ratio of 3.77 and a beta of 1.20.

ONEOK (NYSE:OKE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 24th. The utilities provider reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.11. ONEOK had a return on equity of 16.84% and a net margin of 14.05%. The firm had revenue of $7 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.18 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that ONEOK, Inc. will post 5.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ONEOK Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a dividend of $1.03 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.90%. This is an increase from ONEOK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.99. ONEOK’s dividend payout ratio is 79.69%.

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.