Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Has $6.27 Million Position in ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE)

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC reduced its position in shares of ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE) by 46.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 89,276 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 78,768 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC’s holdings in ONEOK were worth $6,269,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of OKE. Peoples Bank KS bought a new position in ONEOK in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Beacon Capital Management LLC boosted its position in ONEOK by 90.7% in the fourth quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 408 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 194 shares in the last quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of ONEOK during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P increased its holdings in shares of ONEOK by 605.1% during the third quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 557 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 478 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. boosted its holdings in shares of ONEOK by 283.5% during the 4th quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 510 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 377 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.13% of the company’s stock.

ONEOK Stock Performance

Shares of OKE stock opened at $77.23 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $78.34 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $72.00. ONEOK, Inc. has a 12 month low of $55.91 and a 12 month high of $81.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.08 billion, a PE ratio of 17.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 1.64.

ONEOK (NYSE:OKE) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $4.78 billion for 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 quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.34 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that ONEOK, Inc. will post 4.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ONEOK Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.99 per share. This represents a $3.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.13%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 30th. ONEOK’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 92.09%.

ONEOK announced that its board has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, January 17th that allows the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the utilities provider to purchase up to 4.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on OKE shares. Raymond James increased their target price on ONEOK from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 19th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of ONEOK from $81.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of ONEOK from $81.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. UBS Group increased their price objective on ONEOK from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on ONEOK from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $83.58.

Insider Buying and Selling at ONEOK

In other ONEOK news, Director Wayne Thomas Smith bought 2,700 shares of ONEOK stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The stock was bought at an average cost of $75.25 per share, with a total value of $203,175.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 2,700 shares in the company, valued at approximately $203,175. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company 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.