Flputnam Investment Management Co. Acquires 1,171 Shares of ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE)

Flputnam Investment Management Co. grew its holdings in ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE) by 9.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,837 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,171 shares during the period. Flputnam Investment Management Co.’s holdings in ONEOK were worth $972,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Keel Point LLC bought a new stake in shares of ONEOK in the 4th quarter worth $259,000. Sippican Capital Advisors bought a new stake in shares of ONEOK in the fourth quarter worth $216,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its holdings in shares of ONEOK by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 149,564 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $10,502,000 after acquiring an additional 2,048 shares during the period. Cullen Investment Group LTD. bought a new stake in shares of ONEOK in the fourth quarter worth $969,000. Finally, Strs Ohio grew its holdings in shares of ONEOK by 12.9% in the fourth quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 24,459 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,717,000 after acquiring an additional 2,796 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 69.13% of the company’s stock.

ONEOK Stock Up 0.8 %

ONEOK stock opened at $77.68 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $76.35 and a two-hundred day moving average of $70.86. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The firm has a market cap of $45.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.65. ONEOK, Inc. has a twelve month low of $55.91 and a twelve month high of $80.81.

ONEOK (NYSE:OKE) last posted its earnings results on Monday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.21 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $5.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.57 billion. ONEOK had a return on equity of 22.57% and a net margin of 15.04%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.08 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that ONEOK, Inc. will post 4.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Insider Activity

In other ONEOK news, Director Wayne Thomas Smith acquired 2,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The stock was purchased at an average price of $75.25 per share, for a total transaction of $203,175.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 2,700 shares in the company, valued at approximately $203,175. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on OKE. Wolfe Research upgraded ONEOK from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on ONEOK from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. Barclays boosted their target price on ONEOK from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. Citigroup boosted their target price on ONEOK from $73.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Finally, StockNews.com raised ONEOK from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, ONEOK has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $82.25.

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.