Elizabeth Park Capital Advisors Ltd. Makes New Investment in Western New England Bancorp $WNEB

Elizabeth Park Capital Advisors Ltd. purchased a new position in Western New England Bancorp (NASDAQ:WNEB) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 132,566 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,592,000.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC raised its stake in shares of Western New England Bancorp by 141.6% during the first quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 17,672 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $164,000 after purchasing an additional 10,358 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in Western New England Bancorp by 36.5% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 92,006 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $856,000 after buying an additional 24,597 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in Western New England Bancorp by 7.0% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 89,478 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $832,000 after buying an additional 5,883 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC increased its stake in Western New England Bancorp by 190.1% during the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 80,657 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $750,000 after buying an additional 52,858 shares during the period. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Western New England Bancorp by 5.3% during the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 405,323 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,736,000 after buying an additional 20,282 shares in the last quarter. 67.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on WNEB. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Western New England Bancorp from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Thursday. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Western New England Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $11.00.

Western New England Bancorp Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of WNEB stock opened at $12.75 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $13.22 and a 200 day simple moving average of $12.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $258.32 million, a P/E ratio of 16.78 and a beta of 0.79. Western New England Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $7.63 and a fifty-two week high of $14.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37.

Western New England Bancorp (NASDAQ:WNEB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.05. Western New England Bancorp had a net margin of 11.64% and a return on equity of 6.31%. The firm had revenue of $22.01 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.62 million. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Western New England Bancorp will post 0.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western New England Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 25th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 11th were paid a dividend of $0.07 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 11th. This represents a $0.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. Western New England Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.84%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Western New England Bancorp news, Director Philip R. Smith sold 3,000 shares of Western New England Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.17, for a total value of $39,510.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 7,497 shares in the company, valued at approximately $98,735.49. The trade was a 28.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 6.12% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Western New England Bancorp

Western New England Bancorp is a bank holding company headquartered in Westfield, Massachusetts. Through its wholly owned subsidiary, Westfield Bank, the company provides a full suite of commercial and consumer banking services. Its operations focus on serving small to mid-sized businesses, professional practices, and individual customers, with a strategy centered on relationship-driven banking and community involvement.

The company’s core offerings include deposit products such as checking, savings and money market accounts, along with business cash-management solutions.