Royal Bank of Canada Cuts Stock Position in ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE)

Royal Bank of Canada lessened its stake in ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE) by 3.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 2,150,256 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 84,093 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada’s holdings in ONEOK were worth $215,887,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in ONEOK by 57.9% during the 4th quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 14,506 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,456,000 after acquiring an additional 5,321 shares during the period. Simon Quick Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in ONEOK during the 4th quarter valued at about $251,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its holdings in ONEOK by 9.7% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 1,544,208 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $155,038,000 after acquiring an additional 136,071 shares during the period. Cinctive Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in ONEOK during the 4th quarter valued at about $19,909,000. Finally, Americana Partners LLC boosted its holdings in ONEOK by 258.6% during the 4th quarter. Americana Partners LLC now owns 271,836 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,292,000 after acquiring an additional 196,038 shares during the period. 69.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

ONEOK Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NYSE:OKE opened at $85.74 on Friday. ONEOK, Inc. has a 52-week low of $75.48 and a 52-week high of $118.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $53.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.94, a P/E/G ratio of 3.77 and a beta of 1.01. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $88.59 and a 200-day moving average price of $97.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.81.

ONEOK (NYSE:OKE) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.28 by ($0.24). ONEOK had a return on equity of 16.84% and a net margin of 14.05%. The firm had revenue of $6.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.23 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.09 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that ONEOK, Inc. will post 5.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ONEOK Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 5th were given a dividend of $1.03 per share. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 5th. ONEOK’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 80.47%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on OKE. Scotiabank dropped their target price on ONEOK from $101.00 to $100.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on ONEOK from $102.00 to $93.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. US Capital Advisors raised ONEOK from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup lowered their price target on ONEOK from $110.00 to $102.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on ONEOK from $111.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, ONEOK has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $105.00.

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.