BOK Financial Co. (NASDAQ:BOKF) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

BOK Financial Co. (NASDAQ:BOKF) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 293,900 shares, a growth of 24.6% from the November 30th total of 235,900 shares. Approximately 1.2% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 153,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.9 days.

BOK Financial Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:BOKF traded down $1.51 during trading on Friday, hitting $108.20. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 102,278 shares, compared to its average volume of 152,966. BOK Financial has a fifty-two week low of $77.86 and a fifty-two week high of $121.58. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $113.37 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $104.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79. The company has a market capitalization of $6.94 billion, a PE ratio of 14.88 and a beta of 1.18.

BOK Financial (NASDAQ:BOKF) last released its earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The bank reported $2.18 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.98 by $0.20. BOK Financial had a return on equity of 9.67% and a net margin of 13.78%. The firm had revenue of $888.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $509.43 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.04 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that BOK Financial will post 8.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BOK Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th were paid a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.11%. This is a positive change from BOK Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. BOK Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.36%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BOKF has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Truist Financial raised BOK Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $112.00 to $123.00 in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Wedbush reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $115.00 price target on shares of BOK Financial in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of BOK Financial from $111.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. DA Davidson dropped their target price on shares of BOK Financial from $124.00 to $123.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Stephens lowered their price target on BOK Financial from $116.00 to $114.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, BOK Financial has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $114.40.

Insider Activity at BOK Financial

In other BOK Financial news, Director Steven Bangert sold 2,000 shares of BOK Financial stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.83, for a total value of $235,660.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 44,709 shares in the company, valued at $5,268,061.47. The trade was a 4.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 56.94% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of BOK Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $39,000. KBC Group NV increased its holdings in BOK Financial by 25.3% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 905 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $95,000 after buying an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in BOK Financial in the third quarter valued at $142,000. Point72 DIFC Ltd acquired a new position in shares of BOK Financial during the 2nd quarter worth about $143,000. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of BOK Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at about $147,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 34.44% of the company’s stock.

About BOK Financial

BOK Financial Corporation operates as the financial holding company for BOKF, NA that provides various financial products and services in Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Northwest Arkansas, Colorado, Arizona, and Kansas/Missouri. It operates through three segments: Commercial Banking, Consumer Banking, and Wealth Management.