On June 26th, 2023, B.O.S.S. Retirement Advisors LLC publicly announced that it had sold 2,350 shares of ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE) during the first quarter of the year. As a result of this transaction, the financial firm’s holdings in ONEOK decreased by 6.3%. According to their most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), B.O.S.S. Retirement Advisors LLC owns 34,903 shares worth $2,218,000.
ONEOK is a leading natural gas and natural gas liquids (NGL) company with subsidiaries that specialize in gathering, processing, fractionation, storage, transportation and marketing of these resources within the United States. The company operates through three segments: Natural Gas Gathering and Processing, Natural Gas Liquids and Natural Gas Pipelines.
As for the current state of OKE stock on the same day as this announcement was made; it opened at $57.69 on Monday with a fifty-day moving average of $61.15 and its two-hundred-day moving average at $64.41. Furthermore, ONEOK has a quick ratio of 0.92 along with a current ratio of 1.18 while maintaining a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.78.
Having carved out an impressive market cap value recently pegged at $25.82 billion with a corresponding price-to-earnings-growth ratio estimated around 1.68 consistently all while maintaining beta valued at approximately 1.68 as well; ONEOK’s success over time has been unblemished thus far.
Looking back at previous statistics based on past performance trends will reveal that Oneok’s twelve-month low was priced at $50.50 while its high was valued upwards towards $71.57 leaving an interesting margin for potential investors looking to take advantage of any future opportunities within this industry.
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Institutional Investors Increasing Stake in ONEOK, Inc.: Prospects for Growth and Performance Estimations
ONEOK, Inc. is a leading utilities provider specializing in the natural gas and natural gas liquids (NGL) market in the United States. The company operates through Natural Gas Gathering and Processing, Natural Gas Liquids, and Natural Gas Pipelines segments and has recently attracted significant investments from institutional investors and hedge funds.
Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC saw its stake in ONEOK grow by a staggering 118,109.3% during the fourth quarter last year with the acquisition of an additional 22,543,516 shares bringing their total ownership to 22,562,603 shares valued at $1,482,363,000. Cowa LLC also lifted its position in ONEOK’s shares by 9,775.0% during the first quarter this year after purchasing an additional 5,270,510 shares bringing their overall stake to 5,324,428 shares valued at $3,761,000.
Deutsche Bank AG also increased its position with ONEOK’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,004,388 shares representing a rise of 60.1% during the last quarter taking their total share count to 7,999,805 worth $525,587. Norges Bank added a new position in ONEOK during the fourth quarter last year worth approximately $139 million while CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC increased its holdings with an additional purchase of 1,246512 shares raising their stake to 3,022488 shares valued at $198481000.
The combined stakes of these institutional investors and hedge funds have meant that currently 68.15% of ONEOK’s stock is owned by them. However analysts have expressed mixed views about the prospects for ONEOK’s future growth potential triggering varied ratings on the stock’s price objective and performance estimations.
UBS Group lowered their price objective to $81 from $82 while Royal Bank of Canada reduced theirs even further down to $66 from $75. StockNews.com considered ONEOK as a buy rating and gave a target price of $73.45 while Barclays lowered their price objective to $70 from $71.
In contrast, Mizuho raised their price objective from $66 to $70 and rated the company as neutral. With five investment analysts giving a hold rating and seven providing a buy recommendation, Bloomberg.com’s average rating for ONEOK stands at “Moderate Buy” with an average target price of $73.45.
ONEOK posted earnings per share (EPS) results on May 2nd this year announcing that it had achieved $2.34 per share during the quarter, outstripping market consensus estimates of $1.81 by 0.53 dollar cents – indicating growth potential for the business. For comparative purposes, during the same period in the preceding year, EPS stood at 87 cent reaching up to 46% YoY growth.
With revenue figures of $4.52bn reported against expected analyst earnings of$5.13bn over two-and-a-half months ending this May, investors remain hopeful that ONEOK will post strong returns with predictions forecasting EPS of around 5.48 for this year.
A key factor contributing to ONEOK’s continued positive growth is revealed in its payout ratio which currently stands at 72%, confirmed by its recent quarterly dividend payment made on May15th and representing an annualized dividend yield totaling 6.62%. The ex-dividend date was April 28th allowing Oneok shareholders to access the distribution amounting to a total payout ratio of roughly three dollars and eighty-two cents annually.
As institutional investors increase their stake-holdings in ONEOK along with rising investor confidence backed by bullish analyst opinions indicate a promising future expected forward with increasing ROI commanding premium valuations within the utilities sector through development plans focused on natural gas gathering and processing, natural gas liquids transport facilities combined with a natural gas pipeline network that spells significant growth potentials for ONEOK’s bottom line.