BOK Financial Co. (NASDAQ:BOKF) Sees Large Decrease in Short Interest

BOK Financial Co. (NASDAQ:BOKF) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 393,000 shares, a decline of 14.9% from the August 31st total of 462,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 153,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.6 days. Approximately 1.5% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on BOKF. Hovde Group upped their price objective on shares of BOK Financial from $106.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. StockNews.com raised shares of BOK Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on BOK Financial from $97.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on BOK Financial from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $104.00 price target on shares of BOK Financial in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $109.10.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BOK Financial

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of BOK Financial in the 4th quarter worth $27,170,000. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. increased its holdings in BOK Financial by 14.5% in the 1st quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 113,053 shares of the bank’s stock worth $10,401,000 after buying an additional 14,289 shares in the last quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC raised its position in BOK Financial by 85.9% in the 4th quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 52,983 shares of the bank’s stock worth $4,538,000 after buying an additional 24,482 shares during the last quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System lifted its stake in BOK Financial by 71.3% during the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 37,532 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,168,000 after acquiring an additional 15,626 shares during the period. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. bought a new stake in shares of BOK Financial in the second quarter worth approximately $3,429,000. 34.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BOK Financial Stock Up 0.2 %

NASDAQ:BOKF traded up $0.16 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $104.38. 62,121 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 152,125. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $102.22 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $94.79. BOK Financial has a 1 year low of $62.42 and a 1 year high of $108.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.22 and a beta of 1.18.

BOK Financial (NASDAQ:BOKF) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The bank reported $2.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.65. BOK Financial had a return on equity of 9.94% and a net margin of 13.92%. The firm had revenue of $871.84 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $520.43 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.27 EPS. Analysts predict that BOK Financial will post 7.78 earnings per share for the current year.

BOK Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 30th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were issued a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 15th. BOK Financial’s payout ratio is 32.07%.

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.