Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE) by 21.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 12,408,725 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,153,295 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in ONEOK were worth $871,341,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of OKE. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of ONEOK in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $201,000. Apollon Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of ONEOK by 16.9% in the 4th quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 45,860 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,220,000 after purchasing an additional 6,621 shares during the last quarter. Lincoln National Corp raised its position in shares of ONEOK by 25.6% in the 4th quarter. Lincoln National Corp now owns 16,144 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,134,000 after purchasing an additional 3,291 shares during the last quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System raised its position in shares of ONEOK by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 535,156 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $37,579,000 after purchasing an additional 17,709 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC raised its position in shares of ONEOK by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 61,078 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,289,000 after purchasing an additional 1,748 shares during the last quarter. 69.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

ONEOK Price Performance

ONEOK stock traded up $0.88 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $79.25. The company had a trading volume of 888,525 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,957,755. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $78.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $72.18. ONEOK, Inc. has a 1-year low of $55.91 and a 1-year high of $81.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.25 billion, a PE ratio of 18.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 1.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.70.

ONEOK (NYSE:OKE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.03. ONEOK had a net margin of 12.54% and a return on equity of 15.94%. The firm had revenue of $4.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.84 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.34 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that ONEOK, Inc. will post 4.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ONEOK Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be paid a $0.99 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 30th. This represents a $3.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.00%. ONEOK’s dividend payout ratio is currently 92.09%.

ONEOK declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share 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 reacquire up to 4.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

OKE has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wolfe Research raised shares of ONEOK from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of ONEOK from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of ONEOK from $81.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of ONEOK from $81.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on shares of ONEOK from $73.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $83.58.

Insider Activity at ONEOK

In related news, Director Wayne Thomas Smith purchased 2,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were purchased at an average price of $75.25 per share, with a total value of $203,175.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 2,700 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $203,175. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.