Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. Grows Stock Holdings in ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE)

Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. boosted its stake in shares of ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE) by 40.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 693,381 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 199,000 shares during the quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co.’s holdings in ONEOK were worth $48,689,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in 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 buying an additional 5,525,010 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG increased its stake in shares of ONEOK by 37.7% during the third 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 period. Blackstone Inc. increased its stake in shares of ONEOK by 3,478.3% during the third quarter. Blackstone Inc. now owns 3,578,316 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $226,973,000 after acquiring an additional 3,478,316 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in ONEOK by 65.9% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,132,301 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $515,832,000 after purchasing an additional 3,229,046 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in ONEOK by 5,247.1% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,463,929 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $173,017,000 after purchasing an additional 2,417,849 shares during the period. 69.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at ONEOK

In other ONEOK news, Director Wayne Thomas Smith purchased 2,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $75.25 per share, with a total value of $203,175.00. Following the purchase, 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 is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

ONEOK Price Performance

Shares of NYSE OKE traded down $1.17 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $79.26. The company had a trading volume of 1,034,697 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,947,812. 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 market capitalization of $46.26 billion, a PE ratio of 14.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.95 and a beta of 1.65. ONEOK, Inc. has a twelve month low of $55.91 and a twelve 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.

ONEOK (NYSE:OKE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.21 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $5.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.57 billion. ONEOK had a return on equity of 22.57% and a net margin of 15.04%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.08 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that ONEOK, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

ONEOK announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, January 17th that permits the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the utilities provider to reacquire up to 4.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

ONEOK Announces Dividend

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 paid a dividend of $0.99 per share. This represents a $3.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 30th. ONEOK’s dividend payout ratio is presently 71.35%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on OKE shares. Seaport Res Ptn raised ONEOK from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Raymond James increased their price objective on ONEOK from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 19th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of ONEOK from $71.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of ONEOK from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of ONEOK from $84.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $82.25.

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.