Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky Sells 54,000 Shares of ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE)

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky trimmed its holdings in ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE) by 14.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 327,240 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 54,000 shares during the period. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky owned about 0.06% of ONEOK worth $32,855,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kieckhefer Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of ONEOK in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Canton Hathaway LLC bought a new stake in shares of ONEOK in the fourth quarter worth about $40,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp bought a new position in ONEOK during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $48,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in ONEOK in the 4th quarter worth approximately $50,000. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in shares of ONEOK during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $51,000. Institutional investors own 69.13% of the company’s stock.

ONEOK Stock Performance

Shares of ONEOK stock opened at $86.19 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $93.39 and its 200-day moving average price is $99.40. The firm has a market cap of $53.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.03, a P/E/G ratio of 3.77 and a beta of 1.20. ONEOK, Inc. has a 12 month low of $75.48 and a 12 month high of $118.07.

ONEOK (NYSE:OKE) last posted its earnings results on Monday, February 24th. The utilities provider reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.11. ONEOK had a net margin of 14.05% and a return on equity of 16.84%. The business had revenue of $7 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.18 billion. On average, equities research analysts expect that ONEOK, Inc. will post 5.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ONEOK Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd were paid a $1.03 dividend. This is an increase from ONEOK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.99. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.78%. ONEOK’s payout ratio is 79.69%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on OKE. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of ONEOK from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $110.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of ONEOK from $105.00 to $101.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 7th. US Capital Advisors raised ONEOK from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on ONEOK from $107.00 to $102.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of ONEOK from $111.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $106.42.

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.