SG Americas Securities LLC Lowers Stock Position in ConnectOne Bancorp, Inc. $CNOB

SG Americas Securities LLC decreased its holdings in shares of ConnectOne Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:CNOB) by 57.0% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 257,401 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 341,834 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in ConnectOne Bancorp were worth $6,891,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. EP Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of ConnectOne Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $236,000. Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in ConnectOne Bancorp by 8.0% in the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 212,496 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,572,000 after acquiring an additional 15,771 shares in the last quarter. VARCOV Co. purchased a new position in ConnectOne Bancorp in the fourth quarter worth $422,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in ConnectOne Bancorp in the fourth quarter valued at $534,000. Finally, Bridgeway Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in ConnectOne Bancorp by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 336,710 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,829,000 after acquiring an additional 15,771 shares during the period. 67.70% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on CNOB. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and set a $34.00 price target on shares of ConnectOne Bancorp in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Hovde Group raised their price objective on shares of ConnectOne Bancorp from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of ConnectOne Bancorp from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of ConnectOne Bancorp from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of ConnectOne Bancorp from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and four have given a Buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, ConnectOne Bancorp has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $35.00.

ConnectOne Bancorp Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CNOB opened at $33.23 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The firm has a market cap of $1.67 billion, a PE ratio of 19.21 and a beta of 1.06. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $30.39 and a 200-day simple moving average of $28.23. ConnectOne Bancorp, Inc. has a 1-year low of $22.07 and a 1-year high of $33.66.

ConnectOne Bancorp (NASDAQ:CNOB) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $116.64 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $119.59 million. ConnectOne Bancorp had a net margin of 13.21% and a return on equity of 10.17%. On average, equities analysts expect that ConnectOne Bancorp, Inc. will post 3.3 EPS for the current year.

ConnectOne Bancorp Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th were given a $0.195 dividend. This is an increase from ConnectOne Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. This represents a $0.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 15th. ConnectOne Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.09%.

ConnectOne Bancorp Profile

ConnectOne Bancorp is a New Jersey‐based bank holding company whose primary subsidiary, ConnectOne Bank, offers a suite of commercial banking services to small and medium‐sized businesses, professionals and individuals. Established in 2005 and headquartered in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, the company seeks to deliver customized lending and deposit solutions through a network of branches across northern New Jersey and the New York metropolitan area.

The company’s lending portfolio centers on commercial real estate financing, construction lending, owner‐occupied real estate loans and working capital lines of credit.