ConnectOne Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:CNOB) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

ConnectOne Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:CNOB) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of 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. Currently, 3.8% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 182,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 7.3 days.

Institutional Trading of ConnectOne Bancorp

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CNOB. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. increased its position in shares of ConnectOne Bancorp by 1,290.9% during the 1st quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. now owns 2,142 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 1,988 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in ConnectOne Bancorp by 12.6% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 232,553 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,444,000 after acquiring an additional 25,967 shares during the last quarter. Group One Trading L.P. bought a new position in ConnectOne Bancorp in the 1st quarter valued at $32,000. HighTower Advisors LLC grew its position in ConnectOne Bancorp by 73.2% in the 1st quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 14,133 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $457,000 after acquiring an additional 5,974 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC grew its position in ConnectOne Bancorp by 54.0% in the 1st quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 21,220 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $679,000 after acquiring an additional 7,440 shares during the last quarter. 67.70% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

ConnectOne Bancorp Stock Up 0.2 %

CNOB stock opened at $17.91 on Wednesday. ConnectOne Bancorp has a twelve month low of $13.11 and a twelve month high of $24.44. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The stock has a market cap of $686.49 million, a P/E ratio of 8.65 and a beta of 1.25. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $19.48 and its 200-day moving average price is $20.03.

ConnectOne Bancorp (NASDAQ:CNOB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.03. ConnectOne Bancorp had a return on equity of 8.14% and a net margin of 17.26%. The company had revenue of $66.03 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $65.50 million. On average, equities research analysts forecast that ConnectOne Bancorp will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

ConnectOne Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 15th were issued a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 14th. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.80%. ConnectOne Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.85%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CNOB has been the subject of several recent research reports. Raymond James raised 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. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on ConnectOne Bancorp from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on ConnectOne Bancorp from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, ConnectOne Bancorp has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $25.25.

About ConnectOne Bancorp

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.