Barclays Issues Positive Forecast for ONEOK (NYSE:OKE) Stock Price

ONEOK (NYSE:OKE) had its target price boosted by Barclays from $94.00 to $99.00 in a research note released on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an equal weight rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on ONEOK from $89.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Citigroup lifted their target price on ONEOK from $85.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Bank of America began coverage on shares of ONEOK in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $105.00 price target on the stock. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of ONEOK from $88.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of ONEOK from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $103.00 to $111.00 in a report on Monday, September 16th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $96.92.

ONEOK Price Performance

Shares of OKE traded up $1.84 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $97.48. 406,138 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,727,326. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $93.80 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $86.07. ONEOK has a 12-month low of $63.33 and a 12-month high of $98.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.81. The company has a market cap of $56.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.98 and a beta of 1.66.

ONEOK (NYSE:OKE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.23 by ($0.05). ONEOK had a net margin of 14.05% and a return on equity of 16.84%. The company had revenue of $5.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.81 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.99 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that ONEOK will post 5.16 earnings per share for the current year.

ONEOK Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Friday, November 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.99 per share. This represents a $3.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.06%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 1st. ONEOK’s payout ratio is 82.85%.

Insider Buying and Selling at ONEOK

In other ONEOK news, Director Pattye L. Moore sold 3,379 shares of ONEOK stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.01, for a total transaction of $310,901.79. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ONEOK

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. HM Payson & Co. boosted its stake in ONEOK by 6.3% during the 3rd quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 1,764 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $161,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in ONEOK by 2.2% during the second quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,572 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $454,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares during the period. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. raised its position in ONEOK by 0.9% in the second quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 13,623 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,111,000 after acquiring an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in shares of ONEOK by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 11,462 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $935,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of ONEOK by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. now owns 9,202 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $839,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. 69.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.