24/7 Wall St. » OKE

Pipeline Reversal from Cushing to Gulf Coast is Complete

Paul Ausick — Thu, 17 May 2012 18:53:40 +0000

The first US pipeline to carry crude oil from the hub at Cushing, Oklahoma, to the US Gulf Coast will begin to be filled this weekend. The Seaway pipeline has been in operation since 1995, but until the recently completed flow reversal carried crude from the Gulf Coast to the Cushing hub. Seaway will be operated by 50/50 joint venture owned by Canada’s Enbridge Inc. (NYSE: ENB) and Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (NYSE: EPD).

The original capacity of the pipeline will be 150,000 barrels/day, with expansion planned to exceed 400,000 barrels/day by the first part of next year. If a “loop” or second, parallel pipeline is added, the total capacity of Seaway will reach 850,000 barrels/day by 2014. The Seaway pipeline is one of several proposed crude oil pipelines that would carry crude from North Dakota, Montana, and Alberta to the US Gulf Coast, where crude prices are higher.

Transcanada Corp. (NYSE: TRP) has filed a new proposal for its Keystone XL pipeline, while Oneok Inc. (NYSE: OKE) and Oneok Partners LP (NYSE: OKS) have proposed a 1,300 mile route from North Dakota to Cushing, while Enbridge Energy Partners LP (NYSE: EEP) and parent Enbridge are proposing new and reversed pipelines to move crude to Cushing.

Crude from the Bakken oil play and the Canadian oil sands sells at a steep discount to Brent crude, which sets the price benchmark on the Gulf Coast. Producers hope to boost the price they get for their crude if they can just get the black stuff to more liquid market. For consumers, closing the price differential will very likely mean higher prices.

Paul Ausick

Filed under: General Tagged: EEP, ENB, EPD, OKE, OKS, TRP

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (ALTR, BAC, SAM, CHK, CRUS, ERJ, EZPW, GTE, XXIA, LL, MYGN, NXY, OKE, PAA, RVBD, SNDK, SYNM)

Administrator — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 12:31:02 +0000

These are some of the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen in Wall Street research calls this Friday.

Altera Corporation (NASDAQ: ALTR) Cut to Neutral at Citigroup.

Bank of America Corporation (NYSE: BAC) Cut to Sell from Underperform at Credit Agricole.

Boston Beer Co. Inc. (NYSE: SAM) Started as Neutral at UBS.

Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NYSE: CHK) Cut to Market Perform at Wells Fargo; called “a stock to avoid on more ‘off balance sheet’ debt and ‘Founders Well’ issues” by Argus.

Cirrus Logic Inc. (NASDAQ: CRUS) Started as Buy at Stern Agee.

Embraer SA (NYSE: ERJ) Cut to Neutral at Goldman Sachs.

EZCORP, Inc. (NASDAQ: EZPW) Cut to Underperform at Stern Agee.

Gran Tierra Energy, Inc. (AMEX: GTE) Started as Outperform at Credit Suisse.

Ixia (NASDAQ: XXIA) Raised to Buy at Wunderlich.

Lumber Liquidators Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: LL) Cut to Neutral at Goldman Sachs.

Myriad Genetics Inc. (NASDAQ: MYGN) Raised to Outperform at Cowen.

Nexen Inc. (NYSE: NXY) Raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse.

ONEOK Inc. (NYSE: OKE) Raised to Buy at UBS.

Plains All American Pipeline, L.P. (NYSE: PAA) Started as Overweight at Barclays.

Riverbed Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ: RVBD) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan; Cut to Perform at Oppenheimer; downgrades and price target and estimates have been cut at multiple boutique firms.

SanDisk Corporation (NASDAQ: SNDK) Cut to Hold at Deutsche Bank; downgraded or estimate and price targets cut at several other boutique firms.

Syntroleum Corporation (NASDAQ: SYNM) Started as Market Outperform with $1.80 price target at JMP Securities.

If you enjoyed the top analyst upgrades and downgrades, you can join our free email newsletter that includes analyst summaries each morning sent right to your inbox. We also cover top issues such as IPOs, special financial exclusives, mergers and more. Sign up in the box below.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: ALTR, BAC, CHK, CRUS, ERJ, EZPW, GTE, LL, MYGN, NXY, OKE, PAA, RVBD, SAM, SNDK, SYNM, XXIA

Oneok Partners Proposes Bakken-Cushing Pipeline (OKS, OKE, EEP, ENB, TRP)

Paul Ausick — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 15:58:40 +0000

Oneok Partners LP (NYSE: OKS) this morning announced that it plans to build a 1,300-mile pipeline from the Bakken shale in North Dakota to Cushing, Oklahoma, at a cost of $1.5-$1.8 billion. The pipeline is slated to transport 200,000 barrels/day of Bakken crude oil to Cushing once it is completed, now projected to be in early 2015.

Oneok Partners is 43.5% owned by Oneok Inc. (NYSE: OKE), which also owns the general partner interest in Oneok Partners. Both companies have been focused on natural gas transportation and production and this marks their first foray into the crude oil transportation business.

A competing pipeline, proposed by Canada’s Enbridge Energy Partners LP (NYSE: EEP) and parent Enbridge Inc. (NYSE: ENB), would move the oil directly east out of the Bakken or north into Saskatchewan before being sent to eastern Canada or Chicago.

Neither of these plans is as grand as the 1,700-mile, 1.1 million barrel/day TransCanada Corp. (NYSE: TRP) proposal for the Keystone XL pipeline. However both follow existing rights of way and neither transports oil from Canada into the US, a major sticking point on the Keystone XL project. And the Oneok plan is the first major US pipeline to plan on hauling a substantial amount of Bakken crude to the major US trading hub.

A large map showing the route of the Oneok Partners’ Bakken Crude Express Pipeline is available here.

Paul Ausick

Filed under: Oil & Gas Tagged: EEP, ENB, OKE, OKS, TRP

The Best Performing S&P Stocks of 2011 (SPY, OKE, AN, ROST, LTD, GR, TSO, EQT, ERTS, WFM, RL, TDC, RRC, MA, HUM, CMG, VFC, ISRG, BIIB, EP, COG)

Administrator — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 16:08:23 +0000

October may have been one of the best months of many of our lives in equities. The SPDR S&P 500 (NYSE: SPY) rose by 10.9%. in October, but the year-to-date gain has been a mere 1.2% from the December 31, 2010 close to the close on October 31, 2011. 24/7 Wall St. wanted to see which stocks are up the most in percentage gains so far in 2011 in data provided by Capital IQ. This is a year-to-date move through the close of October 31, 2011. We have shown the S&P 500 Index gainers in order from lowest to highest. Another representation is how much implied upside there is to the Thomson Reuters consensus analyst price target as well. Those which are trading above their consensus price target have been given a “caution” ahead of the pricing data.

ONEOK Inc. (NYSE: OKE) 37.1% year-to-date; at $76.05 the consensus price target is $76.60.

AutoNation Inc. (NYSE: AN) 38.1% year-to-date; caution: at $38.94 the consensus price target is $31.28.

Ross Stores Inc. (NASDAQ: ROST) 38.7% year-to-date; caution: at $87.73 the consensus price target is $85.00.

Limited Brands, Inc. (NYSE: LTD) 39.0% year-to-date; at $42.71 the consensus price target is $44.71.

Goodrich Corporation (NYSE: GR) 39.2% year-to-date; This is being acquired, so no color.

Tesoro Corporation (NYSE:TSO) 39.9% year-to-date; at $25.94 the consensus price target is $20.31.

EQT Corporation (NYSE:EQT) 41.6% year-to-date; at $63.50 the consensus price target is $72.28.

Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS) 42.6% year-to-date; at $23.35 the consensus price target is $25.63. This was previously listed as our top pick for the best video game stock for 2011.

Whole Foods Market, Inc. (NASDAQ: WFM) 42.6% year-to-date; at $72.12 the consensus price target is $74.47.

Ralph Lauren Corporation (NYSE: RL) 43.2% year-to-date; caution: at $158.79 the consensus price target is $150.00.

Teradata Corporation (NYSE: TDC) 44.9% year-to-date; at $59.66 the consensus price target is $60.56.

Range Resources Corporation (NYSE: RRC) 53.0% year-to-date; at $68.84 the consensus price target is $76.50.

Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE: MA) 54.9% year-to-date; at $347.24 the consensus price target is $374.82. It seems odd to see one financial stock here.

Humana Inc. (NYSE: HUM) 55.1% year-to-date; at $84.89 the consensus price target is $88.71. Health insurance has not been as bad of a business as the administration was looking for.

Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE: CMG) 58.1% year-to-date; caution: at $336.12 the consensus price target is $328.45. The growth continues, but it is at or close to being fully valued.

V.F. Corporation (NYSE: VFC) 60.4% year-to-date; at $138.22 the consensus price target is $144.33.

Intuitive Surgical, Inc. (NASDAQ: ISRG) 68.3% year-to-date; caution: at $433.86 the consensus price target is $419.27. DaVinci sales remain robust as more surgeons are looking for robotic surgery capabilities.

Biogen Idec Inc. (NASDAQ: BIIB) 73.5% year-to-date; caution: at $116.36 the consensus priced target is $115.22. Here is how this compared to the rest of its peers before earnings season.

El Paso Corp. (NYSE: EP) 81.8% year-to-date; being acquired so no color.

Cabot Oil & Gas Corporation (NYSE: COG) 105.3% year-to-date; ; at $77.72 the consensus price target is $91.32.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: HI/LOW, Index, Trading Alert Tagged: AN, BIIB, CMG, COG, EP, EQT, ERTS, GR, HUM, ISRG, LTD, MA, OKE, RL, ROST, RRC, SPY, TDC, TSO, VFC, WFM

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (NLY, BHP, CELL, FTE, FIO, IVR, MDT, OKE, TLB, THOR, WOOF, WBMD)

Administrator — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 12:35:35 +0000

These are some of the top analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen from Wall Street research calls this Tuesday morning.

Annaly Capital Management, Inc. (NYSE: NLY) Started as Market Perform at Wells Fargo.
BHP Billiton Limited (NYSE: BHP) Reiterated Strong Buy as Value at Zacks.
Brightpoint Inc. (NASDAQ: CELL) Raised to Outperform as Bull of the Day at Zacks.
France Telecom (NYSE: FTE) Raised to Neutral at UBS.
Fusion-io Inc. (NYSE: FIO) Started as Neutral at Goldman Sachs; Started as Equal-Weight at Morgan Stanley; Started as Neutral at JPMorgan; Started as Outperform at Credit Suisse.
Invesco Mortgage Capital Inc. (NYSE: IVR) Started as Outperform at Wells Fargo.
Medtronic, Inc. (NYSE: MDT) Cut to Underperform as Bear of the Day at Zacks.
ONEOK Inc. (NYSE: OKE) Cut to Neutral at BofA/ML.
The Talbots Inc. (NYSE: TLB) Raised to Neutral at Janney Capital.
Thoratec Corporation (NASDAQ: THOR) Started as Outperform with $43 target at Credit Suisse.
VCA Antech Inc. (NASDAQ: WOOF) Raised to Buy at BofA/ML.
WebMD Health Corp. (NASDAQ: WBMD) Cut to Neutral at Citigroup; maintained Buy but cut target to $44 at Canaccord Genuity.

You are invited to join our free daily email distribution list to hear more about analyst upgrades and downgrades, top day trader and active trader alerts, dividend trends, news on Buffett and other investment gurus, IPOs, secondary offerings, private equity, and more.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: BHP, CELL, FIO, FTE, IVR, MDT, NLY, OKE, THOR, TLB, WBMD, WOOF

More Waves of Stock Splits Heading This Way (LULU, OKS, TGI, SNHY, CLH, OKE)

Administrator — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 16:55:01 +0000

No money was injured while filming

The mania of stock splits is not quite as fast and furious as it was earlier in June on the split calendar, but we are still seeing some key splits on the docket which are set to take effect. The splits featured are only in the true splits rather than including the myriad of companies forced to enter into reverse stock splits in order to maintain listing requirements. These are all challenging all-time highs or multi-year highs as you would expect.

During the month of July, we still have stock splits coming from the following:

Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ: LULU);
ONEOK Partners, L.P. (NYSE: OKS);
Triumph Group, Inc. (NYSE: TGI);
Sun Hydraulics Corp. (NASDAQ: SNHY);
and Clean Harbors, Inc. (NYSE: CLH).

Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ: LULU) is one phenomenal stock and is fastly becoming a yoga-monopoly along with being a sports apparel winner. It is also one that we expected the split to take effect in June before it updated its calendar at the end of last month. This will also mark the first split for Little-Lulu. We now have an ex-date of July 12 to reflect its 2-for-1 stock split. Shares just hit a new all-time high yet again of $123.50 on Thursday. Here is some food for thought: LULU has risen so much since it announced its split that the company should have considered announcing a 3-for-1 split rather than just a 2-for-1 split.

ONEOK Partners, L.P. (NYSE: OKS) is also set to go ex-split next week. This 2-for-1 split, rare considering it is a limited partnership, will have an ex-date of July 13. This was announced on June 7. Shares just hit another all-time high of $87.00 on Thursday. This one carries a market-premium as far as what is an implied dividend yield (capital distribution) compared to common stocks. Its general partner is a wholly owned subsidiary of ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE: OKE) and it owns 42.8% of the overall partnership interest. As a reminder, that is pronounced as “One-Oak” rather than “On-ee-okk” as many call it.

Triumph Group, Inc. (NYSE: TGI) is the aircraft components player rather than the maker of old unreliable cars and it certainly isn’t an old rock group. Its 2-for-1 split is set to reflect the early June announced split with an ex-date of July 15.

Sun Hydraulics Corp. (NASDAQ: SNHY) is thinly traded enough and now high-priced enough for a stock of its sort that many investors may have forgotten all about it. Those who stuck with this hydraulic systems player are glad they stayed. With shares close to $50.00, this one has been a screaming stock in the last year and in the year before that. This recently hit all-time highs. Its ex-date to reflect its 3-for-2 split is July 18.

Clean Harbors, Inc. (NYSE: CLH) is a $100+ environmental remediation player and it has also performed well with shares hitting an all-time high of $110.30 just this Thursday. This appears to be the company’s first stock split ever and that 2-for-1 split will have an ex-date late in the month on July 27.

Stock splits usually occur when company shares are at all-time highs or at least at multi-year highs. What is interesting is that many companies today are refusing to embrace the old stock split game. There are literally about 15 or 20 high-profile splits that could come down the pipe in the future if those companies decide to loosen up on having that mystique of a higher share price.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Calendar, Dividend, Shareholder Issues, Stock Splits Tagged: CLH, LULU, OKE, OKS, SNHY, TGI

The Serious Return of Stock Splits (CLH, OKS, OKE, ALXN, CERN, PLCM, CWT, OII, CSX, SIX, IIVI, FLO, CHD, PEIXD, C, AAPL, GOOG, NFLX)

Administrator — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 14:36:31 +0000

No money was injured while filming

Stock splits usually bring back memories of the old tech bubble and dot-com bubble. Fundamentally, nothing changes at the company other than that smaller investors get to invest in shares at a lower nominal share price. Now that the markets have recovered so much, with the recent weeks as an exception, we are seeing many companies with higher share prices starting to announce stock splits. There may even be more current stock splits pending and freshly affected than we can remember seeing in years.

We have seen major stock split announcements from the likes of many companies. Some of the larger splits are from the following: Clean Harbors, Inc. (NYSE: CLH); Oneok Partners LP (NYSE: OKS); Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: ALXN); Cerner Corporation (NASDAQ: CERN); Polycom, Inc. (NASDAQ: PLCM); California Water Service Group (NYSE: CWT); Oceaneering International, Inc. (NYSE: OII); CSX Corp. (NYSE: CSX); Six Flags Entertainment Corporation (NYSE: SIX); II-VI Inc. (NASDAQ: IIVI); Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE: FLO); and Church & Dwight Co. Inc. (NYSE: CHD). We even have a fresh reverse stock split from Pacific Ethanol, Inc. (NASDAQ: PEIXD). You might think it learned from Citigroup, Inc. (NYSE: C) but Pacific Ethanol did not have a choice if it wanted to keep its listing.

There is also no way to have an article about stock splits without pondering when or what it would take for great companies like Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL), Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) or Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) to consider splitting their shares.

The road to stock splits has really become more common. We have not seen this many pending splits in years. These are not presented in any significant order.

Clean Harbors, Inc. (NYSE: CLH) announced a two-for-one stock split in the form of a dividend payable on July 26, 2011 to holders of record at the close on July 6, 2011.

On Tuesday came word from Oneok Partners LP (NYSE: OKS) that it planned to conduct a two-for-one split of its common and class-B units. This was its first split and you rarely see “units” split. It is 43% owned by its general partner, Oneok Inc. (NYSE: OKE).

In May came a biotech stock split from Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: ALXN). It previously approved a 2-for-1 stock split and shares began trading on a split-adjusted basis on May 23. Shares went from almost $100 to under $50…

Also in May came word from Cerner Corporation (NASDAQ: CERN) that its board of directors had approved a 2-for-1 stock split in the form of a dividend for holders of record on June 15, 2011. The distribution date for the new shares is June 24, 2011.

Polycom, Inc. (NASDAQ: PLCM) announced last month after its pact with H-P that its board of directors approved a two-for-one split of its stock in the form of a stock dividend for holders of record at the close of business on June 15.

Filed under: Dividend, Shareholder Issues, Stock Splits Tagged: AAPL, ALXN, C, CERN, CHD, CLH, CSX, CWT, FLO, GOOG, IIVI, NFLX, OII, OKE, OKS, PEIXD, PLCM, SIX

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (ADS, BSBR, BGFV, C, COST, DK, FSLR, IBKR, JDSU, JNJ, OKE, ORCL, PEP, PCLN, SPR, SBUX, V)

Administrator — Fri, 06 May 2011 12:17:44 +0000

These are some of the top analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen from Wall Street research calls this Friday morning.

Alliance Data Systems Corporation (NYSE: ADS) Cut to Sell at Goldman Sachs.
Banco Santander (Brasil) S.A. (NYSE: BSBR) Raised to Neutral at Credit Suisse.
Big Five Sporting Goods (NASDAQ: BGFV) Maintained Underperform as Bear of the Day at Zacks.
Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) Raised to Overweight at Morgan Stanley.
Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ: COST) Reiterated Buy and raised target to $88 at Argus.
Delek US Holdings Inc. (NYSE: DK) Raised to Neutral at Credit Suisse.
First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) Reiterated Buy with $180 target at Argus.
Interactive Brokers Group (NASDAQ: IBKR) Raised to Outperform as Bull of the Day at Zacks.
JDS Uniphase Corporation (NASDAQ: JDSU) Raised to Buy at Argus.
Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) Maintained Neutral at Zacks.
ONEOK Inc. (NYSE: OKE) Raised to Buy at Citigroup.
Oracle Corporation (NYSE: ORCL) Reiterated Outperform and $42 target at Credit Suisse.
Pepsico, Inc. (NYSE: PEP) Raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse.
priceline.com Incorporated (NASDAQ: PCLN) Cut to Neutral at Goldman Sachs; raised estimates and target at BofA/ML.
Spirit AeroSystems Holdings Inc (NYSE: SPR) Cut to Neutral at BofA/ML.
Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ: SBUX) Reiterated Outperform and $44 target at Credit Suisse.
Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) Reiterated Underperform with $70 target at BofA/ML.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: ADS, BGFV, BSBR, C, COST, DK, FSLR, IBKR, JDSU, JNJ, OKE, ORCL, PCLN, PEP, SBUX, SPR, V

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (AGU, CCJ, CHK, ETR, IGT, JDSU, LVS, LINE, NE, OKE, OPEN, SBUX, TXN, TOL)

Administrator — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 12:22:43 +0000

These are some of the top analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen from Wall Street research calls this Monday morning.

Agrium Inc. (NYSE: AGU) Raised to Buy at TD.
Cameco Corp. (NYSE: CCJ) Cut to Hold at TD.
Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NYSE: CHK) Reiterated Hold at Argus.
Entergy Corporation (NYSE: ETR) Cut to Underperform at BofA/ML.
International Game Technology (NYSE: IGT) Reiterated Outperform at Credit Suisse.
JDS Uniphase Corporation (NASDAQ: JDSU) Raised to Buy at Citigroup.
Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE: LVS) Cut to Hold at Jefferies.
Linn Energy, LLC (NASDAQ: LINE) Started as Buy at Stifel Nicolaus.
Noble Corp. (NYSE: NE) Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.
ONEOK Inc. (NYSE: OKE) Cut to Hold at Argus.
OpenTable, Inc. (NASDAQ: OPEN) Cut to Neutral at Merriman.
Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ: SBUX) Reiterated Outperform and raised target to $41 at Credit Suisse.
Texas Instruments Inc. (NYSE: TXN) Raised to Positive at Susquehanna.
Toll Brothers Inc. (NYSE: TOL) Cut to Sell at Stifel Nicolaus.

You can join our free daily email distribution list to hear more about analyst upgrades and downgrades, top day trader and active trader alerts, dividend trends, news on Buffett and other investment gurus, IPOs, secondary offerings, private equity, and more.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: AGU, CCJ, CHK, ETR, IGT, JDSU, LINE, LVS, NE, OKE, OPEN, SBUX, TOL, TXN

The Great Dividend Hikes Of 2011 Are Underway (CCL, OKE, FINL, JPM, WFC, BAC, CSCO, AAPL, GE, UTX, MMM, WPO)

Administrator — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 17:58:56 +0000

The rising dividend theme of 2010 is already continuing in 2011 and this looks to be another great year for investors seeking higher dividends. We have seen three fresh dividend hikes from Carnival Corporation plc (NYSE: CCL), Oneok Inc. (NYSE: OKE), and Finish Line Inc. (NASDAQ: FINL). While those are all good, the more important consideration is about the possible waves of newer and larger dividends from key market players ahead.

We already gave The Dogs of The Dow for 2011. We are looking at key dividend expectations in key sectors for investors in other sectors. In the money center banks, we are keeping a keen eye on J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM), Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC), and Bank of America Corporation (NYSE: BAC). Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) is overdue for its technology dividend and now Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) may be back in play in the dividend circles again after the Steve Jobs health news. In conglomerates we are expecting news from General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE), United Technologies Corp. (NYSE: UTX), and 3M Co. (NYSE: MMM) in 2011.

We have outlined the expectations and an outlook on each stock individually. That compares yields to projected dividend hikes ahead, and we have added additional historical data and additional color on each as well.

Filed under: Banking, Conglomerates, Dividend, Shareholder Issues, Stock Buybacks, Technology Companies, Value Investing Tagged: AAPL, BAC, CCL, CSCO, FINL, GE, JPM, MMM, OKE, UTX, WFC