Westbourne Investment Advisors Inc. Takes Position in ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE)

Westbourne Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 3,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $211,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of ONEOK by 10.3% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 59,237,038 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,757,405,000 after acquiring an additional 5,525,010 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. boosted its holdings in ONEOK by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 46,311,090 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,858,320,000 after acquiring an additional 285,789 shares during the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in ONEOK by 118,109.3% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 22,562,603 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,482,363,000 after acquiring an additional 22,543,516 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its holdings in ONEOK by 37.7% during the 3rd quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 13,292,341 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $843,133,000 after acquiring an additional 3,636,660 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in ONEOK by 9.5% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,255,430 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $650,502,000 after acquiring an additional 889,110 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at ONEOK

In other news, Director Wayne Thomas Smith acquired 2,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was acquired at an average price of $75.25 per share, for a total transaction of $203,175.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 2,700 shares in the company, valued at $203,175. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.65% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

ONEOK Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:OKE traded up $0.51 during trading on Thursday, reaching $80.11. 804,030 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,063,571. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.34, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.65. ONEOK, Inc. has a 52-week low of $55.91 and a 52-week high of $80.22. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The business’s fifty day moving average is $73.14 and its 200-day moving average is $69.42.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.21 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $5.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.57 billion. ONEOK had a net margin of 15.04% and a return on equity of 22.57%. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.08 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that ONEOK, Inc. will post 4.63 EPS for the current year.

ONEOK declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, January 17th that authorizes the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the utilities provider to repurchase up to 4.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

ONEOK Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 30th were issued a dividend of $0.99 per share. This represents a $3.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, January 29th. This is an increase from ONEOK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.96. ONEOK’s dividend payout ratio is currently 71.35%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on OKE. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of ONEOK from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. Bank of America raised shares of ONEOK from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $72.00 to $83.00 in a report on Monday, December 4th. StockNews.com upgraded ONEOK from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded ONEOK from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, US Capital Advisors cut ONEOK from an “overweight” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $81.73.

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.