Short Interest in ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE) Increases By 23.5%

ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE) saw a significant increase in short interest in November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 13,930,000 shares, an increase of 23.5% from the October 31st total of 11,280,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 2,990,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.7 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on OKE shares. Mizuho upgraded ONEOK to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on ONEOK from $89.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. UBS Group lifted their price target on ONEOK from $112.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Citigroup lifted their price target on ONEOK from $85.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price target on ONEOK from $88.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, ONEOK has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $100.38.

Insider Activity at ONEOK

In other news, Director Pattye L. Moore sold 3,379 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.01, for a total value of $310,901.79. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ONEOK

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of OKE. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in ONEOK by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 17,480,774 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,593,023,000 after purchasing an additional 661,854 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in ONEOK by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,680,875 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,242,449,000 after purchasing an additional 138,430 shares during the period. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. increased its holdings in ONEOK by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. now owns 6,795,313 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $554,158,000 after purchasing an additional 232,043 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in shares of ONEOK by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,751,172 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $341,844,000 after acquiring an additional 11,189 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of ONEOK by 4.1% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,340,155 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $272,377,000 after acquiring an additional 132,326 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.13% of the company’s stock.

ONEOK Trading Down 2.8 %

Shares of ONEOK stock traded down $3.17 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $110.43. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,318,856 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,814,314. ONEOK has a twelve month low of $65.49 and a twelve month high of $118.07. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $100.75 and a 200-day moving average of $90.13. The stock has a market cap of $64.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.10, a P/E/G ratio of 5.75 and a beta of 1.66. 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 (NYSE:OKE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.23 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $5.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.81 billion. ONEOK had a net margin of 14.05% and a return on equity of 16.84%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.99 EPS. Research analysts forecast that ONEOK will post 5.08 EPS for the current year.

ONEOK Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Friday, November 1st were issued a $0.99 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 1st. This represents a $3.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.59%. ONEOK’s dividend payout ratio is presently 82.85%.

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.