Empirical Finance LLC Grows Holdings in ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE)

Empirical Finance LLC lifted its stake in shares of ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE) by 7.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 10,799 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 743 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in ONEOK were worth $866,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of OKE. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of ONEOK during the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. LifeSteps Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of ONEOK during the 1st quarter worth about $26,000. Beacon Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of ONEOK by 90.7% during the 4th quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 408 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 194 shares during the period. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of ONEOK during the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, American National Bank purchased a new position in shares of ONEOK during the 1st quarter worth about $32,000. 69.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of ONEOK from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of ONEOK from $81.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of ONEOK from $81.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of ONEOK from $71.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of ONEOK from $90.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, June 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $84.50.

ONEOK Stock Up 2.1 %

Shares of OKE stock traded up $1.76 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $84.66. 2,197,044 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,769,995. ONEOK, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $60.58 and a fifty-two week high of $84.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.70. The company has a market capitalization of $49.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.67, a P/E/G ratio of 4.41 and a beta of 1.65. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $80.62 and its 200 day simple moving average is $76.62.

ONEOK (NYSE:OKE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.03. ONEOK had a net margin of 12.54% and a return on equity of 15.94%. The business had revenue of $4.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.84 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.34 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that ONEOK, Inc. will post 4.95 earnings per share for the current year.

ONEOK Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 1st were given a dividend of $0.99 per share. This represents a $3.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 30th. ONEOK’s payout ratio is currently 92.09%.

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.