ConnectOne Bancorp (NASDAQ:CNOB) Sets New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

ConnectOne Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:CNOB)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $33.99 and last traded at $34.06, with a volume of 131113 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $33.02.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on CNOB. Raymond James Financial reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of ConnectOne Bancorp in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on ConnectOne Bancorp from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Weiss Ratings upgraded ConnectOne Bancorp from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on ConnectOne Bancorp from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Hovde Group upped their target price on ConnectOne Bancorp from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, ConnectOne Bancorp has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $35.00.

ConnectOne Bancorp Stock Performance

The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $31.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $28.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 0.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.32 and a beta of 1.05.

ConnectOne Bancorp (NASDAQ:CNOB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.06. ConnectOne Bancorp had a return on equity of 10.17% and a net margin of 13.21%.The company had revenue of $116.64 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $119.59 million. Analysts forecast that ConnectOne Bancorp, Inc. will post 3.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ConnectOne Bancorp Increases Dividend

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

Institutional Trading of ConnectOne Bancorp

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in ConnectOne Bancorp by 76.8% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,882,584 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $71,517,000 after acquiring an additional 1,252,614 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG lifted its holdings in shares of ConnectOne Bancorp by 579.2% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 705,119 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $18,488,000 after purchasing an additional 601,310 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in ConnectOne Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at $15,712,000. Algebris UK Ltd. increased its stake in ConnectOne Bancorp by 36.5% during the 4th quarter. Algebris UK Ltd. now owns 846,865 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $22,215,000 after purchasing an additional 226,523 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC acquired a new position in ConnectOne Bancorp during the third quarter worth $4,180,000. Institutional investors own 67.70% of the company’s stock.

ConnectOne Bancorp Company 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.