ClearBridge Investments Ltd Buys Shares of 1,763,401 ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE)

ClearBridge Investments Ltd bought a new position in shares of ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 1,763,401 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $177,045,000. ONEOK accounts for approximately 4.6% of ClearBridge Investments Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest position.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Kieckhefer Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of ONEOK during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Canton Hathaway LLC acquired a new stake in shares of ONEOK in the 4th quarter worth $40,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp purchased a new stake in ONEOK in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $48,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in ONEOK in the fourth quarter worth $50,000. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of ONEOK in the 4th quarter worth approximately $51,000. 69.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

ONEOK Trading Down 0.2 %

NYSE OKE opened at $98.47 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $98.32 and its 200-day moving average price is $100.17. 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 $76.23 and a 12 month high of $118.07. The stock has a market cap of $61.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.60, a P/E/G ratio of 3.77 and a beta of 1.70.

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

ONEOK Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd were given a $1.03 dividend. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.18%. This is an increase from ONEOK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.99. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. ONEOK’s dividend payout ratio is presently 79.69%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

OKE has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Scotiabank reduced their target price on ONEOK from $109.00 to $102.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of ONEOK from $105.00 to $101.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 7th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of ONEOK from $99.00 to $107.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Morgan Stanley boosted 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. Finally, Citigroup assumed coverage on ONEOK in a research report on Friday, February 28th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $110.00 price target for the company. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, ONEOK presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $105.00.

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.