ONEOK (NYSE:OKE) Stock Rating Lowered by JPMorgan Chase & Co.

ONEOK (NYSE:OKE) was downgraded by stock analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, MarketBeat reports. They presently have a $83.00 price target on the utilities provider’s stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s price objective suggests a potential upside of 7.04% from the company’s current price.

Several other equities analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Scotiabank reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $91.00 price target on shares of ONEOK in a report on Friday, January 16th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of ONEOK in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. They set a “hold” rating and a $80.00 target price for the company. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of ONEOK from $114.00 to $103.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus set a $94.00 price objective on ONEOK in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Argus raised ONEOK from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $79.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, November 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $87.69.

ONEOK Stock Down 0.6%

NYSE:OKE opened at $77.54 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $73.29 and a 200-day moving average of $73.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $48.79 billion, a PE ratio of 14.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.94. ONEOK has a 52 week low of $64.02 and a 52 week high of $103.64.

ONEOK (NYSE:OKE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 28th. The utilities provider reported $1.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.01. ONEOK had a return on equity of 15.12% and a net margin of 10.58%.The business had revenue of $8.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.23 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.18 EPS. Analysts predict that ONEOK will post 5.07 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at ONEOK

In related news, Director Brian L. Derksen purchased 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were bought at an average price of $66.00 per share, with a total value of $165,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 21,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,399,200. This represents a 13.37% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ONEOK

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of OKE. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of ONEOK in the 2nd quarter valued at $562,832,000. First Eagle Investment Management LLC grew its stake in ONEOK by 130.8% in the second quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 6,256,173 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $510,691,000 after purchasing an additional 3,545,256 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners increased its position in ONEOK by 53.7% in the 2nd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 5,509,100 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $448,476,000 after purchasing an additional 1,924,864 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of ONEOK by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 76,510,971 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,245,591,000 after purchasing an additional 1,314,002 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Man Group plc lifted its holdings in shares of ONEOK by 292.1% during the 2nd quarter. Man Group plc now owns 1,558,993 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $127,261,000 after buying an additional 1,161,352 shares during the last quarter. 69.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About ONEOK

ONEOK, Inc (NYSE: OKE) is a publicly traded midstream energy company headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The company owns and operates a portfolio of natural gas and natural gas liquids (NGL) pipelines, processing facilities, fractionators and storage and terminal assets. Its operations are focused on gathering, processing, transporting, fractionating and marketing NGLs and interstate natural gas, providing critical infrastructure that connects hydrocarbon production to refineries, petrochemical plants and other end markets.

ONEOK’s asset base includes pipeline systems and processing plants that move and condition natural gas, along with infrastructure for the transportation, storage and fractionation of NGLs such as ethane, propane and butane.