ONEOK (NYSE:OKE) Downgraded by StockNews.com to Sell

ONEOK (NYSE:OKE) was downgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report issued on Thursday.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on OKE. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on ONEOK from $81.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of ONEOK from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of ONEOK from $71.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of ONEOK from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of ONEOK from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $83.58.

ONEOK Stock Up 1.1 %

ONEOK stock traded up $0.89 during trading on Thursday, reaching $80.03. The stock had a trading volume of 1,814,990 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,960,906. ONEOK has a 52-week low of $55.91 and a 52-week high of $81.81. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $78.62 and a 200 day moving average price of $72.22. 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 stock has a market cap of $46.71 billion, a PE ratio of 18.61, a P/E/G ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 1.64.

ONEOK (NYSE:OKE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $4.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.84 billion. ONEOK had a net margin of 12.54% and a return on equity of 15.94%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.34 EPS. On average, analysts predict that ONEOK will post 4.95 EPS for the current year.

ONEOK announced that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, January 17th that authorizes the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the utilities provider to purchase up to 4.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Wayne Thomas Smith bought 2,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The shares were acquired at an average price of $75.25 per share, with a total value of $203,175.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 2,700 shares in the company, valued at approximately $203,175. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of ONEOK

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Peoples Bank KS purchased a new stake in ONEOK in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of ONEOK in the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. LifeSteps Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of ONEOK in the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Beacon Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in ONEOK by 90.7% during the fourth quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 408 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 194 shares during the period. Finally, HHM Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in ONEOK in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.13% 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.