New Century Financial Group LLC Acquires 113 Shares of ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE)

New Century Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE) by 3.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 3,142 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 113 shares during the period. New Century Financial Group LLC’s holdings in ONEOK were worth $323,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. raised its holdings in ONEOK by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. now owns 2,453 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $260,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC raised its stake in ONEOK by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 8,883 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $965,000 after buying an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Morton Capital Management LLC CA lifted its holdings in ONEOK by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Morton Capital Management LLC CA now owns 7,313 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $734,000 after buying an additional 104 shares during the period. HM Payson & Co. boosted its position 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 acquiring an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bill Few Associates Inc. grew its holdings in shares of ONEOK by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Bill Few Associates Inc. now owns 2,773 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $278,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.13% of the company’s stock.

ONEOK Stock Performance

OKE stock opened at $104.42 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $106.11 and its 200 day simple moving average is $96.34. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59. ONEOK, Inc. has a 12-month low of $67.05 and a 12-month high of $118.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $61.00 billion, a PE ratio of 21.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 1.70.

ONEOK (NYSE:OKE) last announced 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 business had revenue of $5.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.81 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.99 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that ONEOK, Inc. will post 5.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ONEOK Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be issued a dividend of $1.03 per share. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.95%. This is a boost from ONEOK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.99. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 3rd. ONEOK’s payout ratio is presently 82.85%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

OKE has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on ONEOK from $89.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Scotiabank began coverage on shares of ONEOK in a report on Friday, January 10th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $109.00 target price on the stock. Mizuho upgraded shares of ONEOK to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of ONEOK from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $107.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Bank of America began coverage on shares of ONEOK in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $105.00 target price for the company. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $102.92.

ONEOK Company 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.