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

BOK Financial Co. (NASDAQ:BOKF) saw a large increase in short interest in January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 429,500 shares, an increase of 18.7% from the January 15th total of 361,700 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 150,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.9 days. Approximately 1.7% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BOK Financial

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BOKF. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in BOK Financial during the 4th quarter valued at about $23,516,000. Freestone Grove Partners LP purchased a new stake in BOK Financial in the 4th quarter worth approximately $21,740,000. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of BOK Financial by 80.0% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 414,548 shares of the bank’s stock worth $44,129,000 after acquiring an additional 184,261 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in BOK Financial by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,372,203 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $252,526,000 after buying an additional 98,588 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FIL Ltd purchased a new stake in BOK Financial during the 4th quarter valued at $6,281,000. 34.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on BOKF. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on BOK Financial from $112.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Stephens cut their price target on BOK Financial from $135.00 to $127.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. StockNews.com raised BOK Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on BOK Financial from $105.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Wedbush restated a “neutral” rating and set a $115.00 price objective on shares of BOK Financial in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $116.40.

BOK Financial Stock Performance

BOKF stock traded down $0.12 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $110.57. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 143,568 shares, compared to its average volume of 133,105. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $110.66 and its 200 day moving average price is $108.24. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. BOK Financial has a 1 year low of $81.96 and a 1 year high of $121.58. The stock has a market cap of $7.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.60 and a beta of 1.19.

BOK Financial (NASDAQ:BOKF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 17th. The bank reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.97 by $0.15. BOK Financial had a return on equity of 9.96% and a net margin of 15.32%. On average, equities analysts forecast that BOK Financial will post 8.75 EPS for the current year.

BOK Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 12th will be issued a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 12th. BOK Financial’s payout ratio is currently 28.04%.

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.