ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest during the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 22,900,000 shares, a growth of 48.6% from the January 15th total of 15,410,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 3,580,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 6.4 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays started coverage on shares of ONEOK in a report on Thursday, February 6th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $105.00 price objective for the company. US Capital Advisors upgraded ONEOK from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered ONEOK from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $107.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Wolfe Research upgraded ONEOK from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $110.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, 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 research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $103.92.

ONEOK Stock Down 1.0 %

NYSE OKE opened at $97.96 on Friday. ONEOK has a 1 year low of $69.01 and a 1 year high of $118.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $57.23 billion, a PE ratio of 20.49, a PEG ratio of 3.67 and a beta of 1.70. 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 business’s 50-day moving average is $101.79 and its 200 day moving average is $98.05.

ONEOK Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were paid a dividend of $1.03 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. 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 4.21%. ONEOK’s payout ratio is 86.19%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ONEOK

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. West Paces Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in ONEOK by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. West Paces Advisors Inc. now owns 2,527 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $254,000 after purchasing an additional 114 shares in the last quarter. Westbourne Investments Inc. purchased a new position in shares of ONEOK during the fourth quarter valued at about $240,000. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec raised its stake in ONEOK by 3,784.3% in the fourth quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 183,379 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $18,411,000 after buying an additional 178,658 shares in the last quarter. Parvin Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in ONEOK in the fourth quarter worth about $102,000. Finally, Headland Capital LLC bought a new stake in ONEOK during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $263,000. Institutional investors own 69.13% of the company’s stock.

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.