Nisa Investment Advisors LLC Increases Stock Holdings in ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE)

Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE) by 7.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 232,616 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 16,315 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in ONEOK were worth $16,334,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Peoples Bank KS purchased a new position in shares of ONEOK in the third quarter valued at $25,000. First Command Bank increased its position in shares of ONEOK by 401.0% in the second quarter. First Command Bank now owns 491 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 393 shares in the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC increased its position in shares of ONEOK by 97.7% in the third quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 437 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of ONEOK by 90.7% in the fourth quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 408 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 194 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of ONEOK in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.13% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wolfe Research upgraded ONEOK from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on ONEOK from $84.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on ONEOK from $71.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on ONEOK from $81.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded ONEOK from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $81.73.

ONEOK Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:OKE opened at $79.98 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $74.95 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $70.24. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. ONEOK, Inc. has a 12-month low of $55.91 and a 12-month high of $80.81. The firm has a market cap of $46.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.41, a PEG ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.65.

ONEOK (NYSE:OKE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.21 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $5.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.57 billion. ONEOK had a net margin of 15.04% and a return on equity of 22.57%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.08 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that ONEOK, Inc. will post 4.62 EPS for the current year.

ONEOK Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 30th were paid a $0.99 dividend. This is a positive change from ONEOK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.96. This represents a $3.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.95%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, January 29th. ONEOK’s payout ratio is currently 71.35%.

ONEOK declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, January 17th that authorizes the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the utilities provider to purchase up to 4.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Wayne Thomas Smith acquired 2,700 shares of ONEOK stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $75.25 per share, with a total value of $203,175.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 2,700 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $203,175. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

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.