Capitol Federal Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:CFFN) Sees Significant Decline in Short Interest

Capitol Federal Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:CFFN) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 5,970,000 shares, a decrease of 10.6% from the March 15th total of 6,680,000 shares. Currently, 4.8% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 914,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 6.5 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Capitol Federal Financial to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Rick C. Jackson bought 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $5.68 per share, for a total transaction of $56,800.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the executive vice president now owns 181,428 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,030,511.04. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director Morris J. Huey II acquired 5,000 shares of Capitol Federal Financial stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $5.70 per share, for a total transaction of $28,500.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 271,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,544,700. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Rick C. Jackson acquired 10,000 shares of Capitol Federal Financial stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The shares were bought at an average price of $5.68 per share, for a total transaction of $56,800.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the executive vice president now directly owns 181,428 shares in the company, valued at $1,030,511.04. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders bought 22,389 shares of company stock worth $127,707. 2.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Capitol Federal Financial

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CFFN. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Capitol Federal Financial by 20.9% in the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 62,309 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $678,000 after purchasing an additional 10,757 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of Capitol Federal Financial by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,455,828 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $15,839,000 after buying an additional 20,691 shares in the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Capitol Federal Financial by 13.1% during the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 22,953 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $250,000 after buying an additional 2,666 shares in the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. raised its position in shares of Capitol Federal Financial by 13.2% during the 1st quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 114,762 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $1,248,000 after buying an additional 13,391 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can raised its position in shares of Capitol Federal Financial by 35.3% during the 1st quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 48,523 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $538,000 after buying an additional 12,667 shares in the last quarter. 88.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Capitol Federal Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CFFN traded down $0.11 on Tuesday, reaching $5.10. 768,546 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 911,413. The firm has a market capitalization of $682.02 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.43 and a beta of 0.42. Capitol Federal Financial has a fifty-two week low of $4.22 and a fifty-two week high of $6.88. The business’s 50-day moving average is $5.72 and its two-hundred day moving average is $5.65. The company has a quick ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.29.

Capitol Federal Financial (NASDAQ:CFFN) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The savings and loans company reported $0.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.06 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $82.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $40.45 million. Capitol Federal Financial had a negative net margin of 34.17% and a positive return on equity of 3.85%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.12 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Capitol Federal Financial will post 0.44 EPS for the current year.

Capitol Federal Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 16th. Investors of record on Friday, February 2nd were given a $0.085 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 1st. This represents a $0.34 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.67%. Capitol Federal Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently -36.17%.

About Capitol Federal Financial

Capitol Federal Financial, Inc operates as the holding company for Capitol Federal Savings Bank that provides various retail banking products and services in the United States. The company accepts a range of deposit products, including savings accounts, money market accounts, interest-bearing and non-interest-bearing checking accounts, and certificates of deposit.