ConnectOne Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:CNOB) Short Interest Up 5.5% in March

ConnectOne Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:CNOB) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,340,000 shares, a growth of 5.5% from the March 15th total of 1,270,000 shares. Approximately 3.8% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 182,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 7.3 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on CNOB shares. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on ConnectOne Bancorp from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on ConnectOne Bancorp from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Raymond James boosted their price objective on ConnectOne Bancorp from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $25.25.

ConnectOne Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of CNOB traded up $0.04 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $17.91. 132,631 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 177,203. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.14. ConnectOne Bancorp has a 12-month low of $13.11 and a 12-month high of $24.44. The company has a market cap of $686.49 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.65 and a beta of 1.25. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $19.48 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $20.03.

ConnectOne Bancorp (NASDAQ:CNOB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $66.03 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $65.50 million. ConnectOne Bancorp had a return on equity of 8.14% and a net margin of 17.26%. Research analysts expect that ConnectOne Bancorp will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

ConnectOne Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 15th were issued a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.80%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 14th. ConnectOne Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 32.85%.

Institutional Trading of ConnectOne Bancorp

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in shares of ConnectOne Bancorp in the 1st quarter valued at $29,000. Group One Trading L.P. acquired a new position in shares of ConnectOne Bancorp in the 1st quarter valued at $32,000. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of ConnectOne Bancorp by 206.8% in the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,123 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 757 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE lifted its stake in ConnectOne Bancorp by 98.6% during the 2nd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,692 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 840 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its stake in ConnectOne Bancorp by 69.4% during the 3rd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 2,114 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 866 shares in the last quarter. 67.70% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

ConnectOne Bancorp Company Profile

ConnectOne Bancorp, Inc operates as the bank holding company for ConnectOne Bank that provides commercial banking products and services for small and mid-sized businesses, local professionals, and individuals in the New York Metropolitan area and South Florida market. The company offers personal and business checking, money market, and time and savings accounts; credit cards, wire transfers, safe deposit boxes, automated teller services and telephone, and internet and mobile banking.