ConnectOne Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:CNOB) Short Interest Update

by · The Markets Daily

ConnectOne Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:CNOB – Get Free Report) was the target of a large increase in short interest in September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 655,700 shares, an increase of 55.7% from the August 31st total of 421,200 shares. Approximately 1.9% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 215,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.0 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ConnectOne Bancorp

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Creative Planning boosted its holdings in ConnectOne Bancorp by 23.8% in the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 33,808 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $639,000 after purchasing an additional 6,489 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of ConnectOne Bancorp by 23.4% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 138,583 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,618,000 after buying an additional 26,285 shares during the last quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of ConnectOne Bancorp in the 2nd quarter worth about $196,000. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans acquired a new position in shares of ConnectOne Bancorp in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,648,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. grew its position in shares of ConnectOne Bancorp by 12.4% during the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 40,452 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $764,000 after buying an additional 4,447 shares during the last quarter. 67.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on CNOB shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $26.00 price objective (up previously from $22.00) on shares of ConnectOne Bancorp in a report on Friday, July 26th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on ConnectOne Bancorp from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $25.00.

Read Our Latest Stock Report on ConnectOne Bancorp

ConnectOne Bancorp Trading Up 0.7 %

CNOB opened at $24.48 on Friday. ConnectOne Bancorp has a 12-month low of $14.51 and a 12-month high of $26.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $938.39 million, a PE ratio of 12.95 and a beta of 1.25. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $23.81 and its 200 day moving average price is $20.69.

ConnectOne Bancorp (NASDAQ:CNOB – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $134.41 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.62 million. ConnectOne Bancorp had a net margin of 14.56% and a return on equity of 7.13%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.51 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that ConnectOne Bancorp will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ConnectOne Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were given a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.94%. ConnectOne Bancorp’s payout ratio is 38.10%.

ConnectOne Bancorp Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

ConnectOne Bancorp, Inc operates as the bank holding company for ConnectOne Bank that provides commercial banking products and services for small and mid-sized businesses, local professionals, and individuals in the New York Metropolitan area and South Florida market. The company offers personal and business checking, money market, and time and savings accounts; credit cards, wire transfers, safe deposit boxes, automated teller services and telephone, and internet and mobile banking.

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