Vestcor Inc Increases Stock Position in ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE)

Vestcor Inc grew its stake in ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE) by 26.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 26,507 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 5,493 shares during the period. Vestcor Inc’s holdings in ONEOK were worth $2,661,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Kieckhefer Group LLC purchased a new position in ONEOK in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Canton Hathaway LLC purchased a new position in shares of ONEOK in the 4th quarter worth about $40,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp bought a new position in shares of ONEOK during the 4th quarter valued at about $48,000. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of ONEOK during the 4th quarter valued at about $51,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in ONEOK by 98.1% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 525 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.13% of the company’s stock.

ONEOK Stock Up 3.2 %

Shares of NYSE OKE opened at $96.52 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $99.21 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $99.49. ONEOK, Inc. has a 12 month low of $76.23 and a 12 month high of $118.07. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $60.26 billion, a PE ratio of 20.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.77 and a beta of 1.70.

ONEOK (NYSE:OKE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 24th. The utilities provider reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $7 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.18 billion. ONEOK had a net margin of 14.05% and a return on equity of 16.84%. Equities analysts expect that ONEOK, Inc. will post 5.07 earnings per share for the current year.

ONEOK Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd were given a dividend of $1.03 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. This is a positive change from ONEOK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.99. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.27%. ONEOK’s payout ratio is currently 79.69%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on OKE. Scotiabank reduced their price target on shares of ONEOK from $109.00 to $102.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of ONEOK from $112.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. US Capital Advisors upgraded shares of ONEOK from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Truist Financial boosted their target price on ONEOK from $99.00 to $107.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on ONEOK from $107.00 to $102.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $103.31.

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.