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

ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE) saw a significant drop in short interest in 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 trading volume of 3,650,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.1 days.

ONEOK Price Performance

NYSE OKE traded up $3.65 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $100.29. The stock had a trading volume of 7,100,796 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,062,820. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $100.91 and its 200 day moving average is $99.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $62.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.98, a PEG ratio of 3.77 and a beta of 1.70. ONEOK has a twelve month low of $74.39 and a twelve month high of $118.07.

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

ONEOK Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a dividend of $1.03 per share. This is a boost from ONEOK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.99. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. ONEOK’s payout ratio is currently 79.69%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

OKE has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group boosted their price target on ONEOK from $112.00 to $132.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of ONEOK from $99.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Mizuho upgraded shares of ONEOK to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Citigroup started coverage on ONEOK in a research report on Friday. They set a “buy” rating and a $110.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded ONEOK from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $110.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Seven 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $104.15.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ONEOK

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in OKE. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. boosted its stake in ONEOK by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. now owns 2,453 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $260,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. McAdam LLC raised its holdings in shares of ONEOK by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. McAdam LLC now owns 2,612 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $262,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the period. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of ONEOK by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 12,569 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,262,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of ONEOK by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 8,883 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $965,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the period. Finally, Morton Capital Management LLC CA increased its position in ONEOK by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Morton Capital Management LLC CA now owns 7,313 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $734,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. 69.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

ONEOK Company Profile

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.