Customers Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:CUBI) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

by · The Cerbat Gem

Customers Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:CUBI – Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest during the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 2,880,000 shares, a growth of 5.5% from the September 15th total of 2,730,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 459,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 6.3 days. Approximately 9.9% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Customers Bancorp Stock Down 0.2 %

NYSE CUBI traded down $0.11 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $47.94. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 350,764 shares, compared to its average volume of 360,385. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $47.62 and its 200 day simple moving average is $49.26. Customers Bancorp has a twelve month low of $31.16 and a twelve month high of $68.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.70 and a beta of 1.61.

Customers Bancorp (NYSE:CUBI – Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The bank reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.06. Customers Bancorp had a net margin of 17.38% and a return on equity of 17.09%. The company had revenue of $198.69 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $184.40 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.65 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Customers Bancorp will post 6.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Customers Bancorp

In other news, CEO Samvir S. Sidhu bought 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 13th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $45.53 per share, with a total value of $113,825.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 144,504 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,579,267.12. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 6.92% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Ridgewood Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Customers Bancorp during the second quarter valued at about $48,000. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Customers Bancorp during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $74,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Customers Bancorp by 21.7% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,580 shares of the bank’s stock worth $73,000 after buying an additional 282 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC grew its holdings in shares of Customers Bancorp by 14.2% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,198 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $102,000 after acquiring an additional 274 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Customers Bancorp in the second quarter valued at approximately $151,000. Institutional investors own 89.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on CUBI. Raymond James lowered their price objective on Customers Bancorp from $80.00 to $70.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on Customers Bancorp from $59.00 to $57.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd. Hovde Group downgraded shares of Customers Bancorp from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $49.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Friday, August 9th. DA Davidson boosted their target price on shares of Customers Bancorp from $71.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, B. Riley increased their target price on shares of Customers Bancorp from $77.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Customers Bancorp currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $62.00.

Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on Customers Bancorp

About Customers Bancorp

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Customers Bancorp, Inc operates as the bank holding company for Customers Bank that provides financial products and services to individual consumers, and small and middle market businesses. The company provides deposit banking products, which includes commercial and consumer checking, non-interest-bearing and interest-bearing demand, MMDA, savings, and time deposit accounts.

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