Auxano Advisors LLC Grows Holdings in ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE)

Auxano Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE) by 29.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 7,249 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,667 shares during the period. Auxano Advisors LLC’s holdings in ONEOK were worth $509,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Peoples Bank KS purchased a new position in shares of ONEOK in the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Beacon Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in ONEOK by 90.7% in the fourth quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 408 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 194 shares during the last quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of ONEOK in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. boosted its position in ONEOK by 283.5% in the fourth quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 510 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 377 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Loomis Sayles & Co. L P lifted its stake in shares of ONEOK by 605.1% in the 3rd quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 557 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 478 shares during the period. 69.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays raised their target price on ONEOK from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 7th. US Capital Advisors lowered shares of ONEOK from an “overweight” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on ONEOK from $81.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Wolfe Research raised ONEOK from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of ONEOK from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, ONEOK currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $82.25.

ONEOK Stock Down 1.6 %

NYSE:OKE traded down $1.31 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $79.12. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,135,007 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,986,417. ONEOK, Inc. has a 12 month low of $55.91 and a 12 month high of $81.81. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $77.97 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $71.81. The company has a market capitalization of $46.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.95 and a beta of 1.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.90.

ONEOK (NYSE:OKE) last announced its earnings results 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). 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 last year, the business earned $1.08 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that ONEOK, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ONEOK Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be issued a $0.99 dividend. This represents a $3.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 30th. ONEOK’s dividend payout ratio is presently 71.35%.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Wayne Thomas Smith bought 2,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The shares were bought at an average price of $75.25 per share, with a total value of $203,175.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 2,700 shares in the company, valued at $203,175. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

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.