Financial & Tax Architects LLC Purchases New Stake in ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE)

Financial & Tax Architects LLC bought a new stake in shares of ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 3,755 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $264,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its position in shares of ONEOK by 16.2% during the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 21,800 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,531,000 after buying an additional 3,032 shares during the period. ELCO Management Co. LLC increased its stake in ONEOK by 102.3% during the 3rd quarter. ELCO Management Co. LLC now owns 26,432 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,677,000 after buying an additional 13,367 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. raised its position in shares of ONEOK by 11.4% during the 3rd quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 7,729 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $490,000 after buying an additional 790 shares in the last quarter. CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT boosted its holdings in shares of ONEOK by 15.9% in the second quarter. CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT now owns 698,627 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $43,119,000 after acquiring an additional 95,725 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in ONEOK by 1.5% during the third quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 38,780 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,460,000 after purchasing an additional 581 shares in the last quarter. 69.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at ONEOK

In related news, Director Wayne Thomas Smith acquired 2,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $75.25 per share, for a total transaction of $203,175.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 2,700 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $203,175. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

ONEOK Stock Performance

ONEOK stock traded up $0.49 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $80.14. 324,053 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,003,293. 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 $46.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.35, a PEG ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.65. 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 stock has a 50-day moving average of $74.75 and a 200 day moving average of $70.14.

ONEOK (NYSE:OKE) last posted its earnings results on Monday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.21 by ($0.03). ONEOK had a net margin of 15.04% and a return on equity of 22.57%. The firm had revenue of $5.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.57 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.08 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that ONEOK, Inc. will post 4.62 earnings per share for the current year.

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

ONEOK Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Citigroup boosted their price objective on ONEOK from $73.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Mizuho upped their target price on ONEOK from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. Wolfe Research raised shares of ONEOK from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on ONEOK from $81.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, US Capital Advisors lowered ONEOK from an “overweight” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, ONEOK currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $81.73.

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.