First Western Trust Bank Takes Position in ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE)

First Western Trust Bank purchased a new position in shares of ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 3,705 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $260,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of ONEOK by 10.3% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 59,237,038 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,757,405,000 after buying an additional 5,525,010 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 3,636,660 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in ONEOK by 21.0% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,408,725 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $871,341,000 after buying an additional 2,153,295 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in ONEOK by 20.3% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 8,660,013 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $549,305,000 after buying an additional 1,458,392 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its position in ONEOK by 65.9% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,132,301 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $515,832,000 after buying an additional 3,229,046 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.13% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other ONEOK news, Director Wayne Thomas Smith bought 2,700 shares of ONEOK stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $75.25 per share, for a total transaction of $203,175.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 2,700 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $203,175. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on OKE shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of ONEOK from $81.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Raymond James boosted their target price on ONEOK from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 19th. Barclays raised their price target on ONEOK from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 7th. Wolfe Research raised ONEOK from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on ONEOK from $88.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $83.58.

ONEOK Price Performance

Shares of OKE traded up $0.89 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $80.03. 1,814,990 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,960,906. ONEOK, Inc. has a 52-week low of $55.91 and a 52-week high of $81.81. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $78.62 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $72.22. The company has a market cap of $46.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.61, a PEG ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 1.64.

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. The company had revenue of $4.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.84 billion. ONEOK had a return on equity of 15.94% and a net margin of 12.54%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.34 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that ONEOK, Inc. will post 4.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ONEOK declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Wednesday, January 17th that authorizes the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the utilities provider to buy 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.

ONEOK Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be given a dividend of $0.99 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 30th. This represents a $3.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.95%. ONEOK’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 92.09%.

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.