ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE) Short Interest Update

ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest during the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 11,450,000 shares, a drop of 50.0% from the January 31st total of 22,900,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 3,650,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.1 days.

ONEOK Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:OKE traded down $3.82 on Monday, hitting $96.57. The stock had a trading volume of 3,556,230 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,050,158. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $100.83 and its 200-day moving average price is $99.35. 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 has a twelve month low of $75.69 and a twelve month high of $118.07. The company has a market capitalization of $60.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.77 and a beta of 1.70.

ONEOK (NYSE:OKE) last released its quarterly 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 firm had revenue of $7 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.18 billion. On average, equities research analysts predict that ONEOK will post 5.07 earnings per share for the current year.

ONEOK Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were paid a $1.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.27%. This is a positive change from ONEOK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.99. ONEOK’s payout ratio is currently 79.69%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on OKE shares. UBS Group increased their price objective on ONEOK from $112.00 to $132.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of ONEOK from $99.00 to $107.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of ONEOK in a report on Friday. They set a “buy” rating and a $110.00 price objective on the stock. Scotiabank initiated coverage on shares of ONEOK in a research note on Friday, January 10th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $109.00 target price for the company. Finally, Barclays began coverage on ONEOK in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $105.00 price target on the stock. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $104.15.

Institutional Trading of ONEOK

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Arkadios Wealth Advisors lifted its position in shares of ONEOK by 18.8% during the third quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 3,315 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $302,000 after purchasing an additional 525 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. raised its position in ONEOK by 37.7% in the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 5,776 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $526,000 after purchasing an additional 1,582 shares during the last quarter. HM Payson & Co. lifted its holdings in ONEOK by 6.3% during the 3rd quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 1,764 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $161,000 after buying an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE increased its stake in shares of ONEOK by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 86,296 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,864,000 after buying an additional 2,012 shares during the period. Finally, Stephens Inc. AR increased its stake in shares of ONEOK by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 41,028 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,739,000 after buying an additional 403 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 69.13% of the company’s stock.

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.