Employees Retirement System of Texas Invests $30.14 Million in ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE)

Employees Retirement System of Texas purchased a new stake in shares of ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 30,016 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $30,136,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of OKE. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. lifted its position in shares of ONEOK by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. now owns 2,453 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $260,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. McAdam LLC boosted its holdings in shares of ONEOK by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. McAdam LLC now owns 2,612 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $262,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in ONEOK by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 12,569 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,262,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC grew its stake in ONEOK by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 8,883 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $965,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morton Capital Management LLC CA boosted its holdings in shares of ONEOK by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Morton Capital Management LLC CA now owns 7,313 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $734,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the period. 69.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on OKE. Citigroup began coverage on shares of ONEOK in a report on Friday, February 28th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $110.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of ONEOK from $107.00 to $102.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. US Capital Advisors upgraded ONEOK from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Barclays reduced their price target on ONEOK from $105.00 to $101.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on ONEOK from $111.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $105.00.

ONEOK Price Performance

OKE stock opened at $80.73 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $50.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.77 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59. ONEOK, Inc. has a 52-week low of $76.23 and a 52-week high of $118.07. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $97.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $100.30.

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

ONEOK Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a $1.03 dividend. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.10%. This is an increase from ONEOK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.99. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. ONEOK’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 79.69%.

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.