KBC Group SA (OTCMKTS:KBCSY) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

KBC Group SA (OTCMKTS:KBCSY) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of May. As of May 29th, there was short interest totaling 8,674 shares, a growth of 912.1% from the May 14th total of 857 shares. Approximately 0.0% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 47,043 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 0.2 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of KBC Group in a report on Friday, May 15th. Zacks Research cut shares of KBC Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of KBC Group in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

KBC Group Stock Up 3.2%

KBC Group stock opened at $65.66 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $54.85 billion, a PE ratio of 13.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.59. KBC Group has a twelve month low of $48.19 and a twelve month high of $73.12. The company has a 50 day moving average of $66.05 and a 200-day moving average of $65.73.

KBC Group (OTCMKTS:KBCSY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 12th. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.84 by ($0.07). KBC Group had a net margin of 14.98% and a return on equity of 13.51%. The company had revenue of $3.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.79 billion. Equities analysts anticipate that KBC Group will post 5.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KBC Group Company Profile

KBC Group is a Belgian bank-insurance group headquartered in Brussels that combines retail and commercial banking with life and non-life insurance, asset management, leasing and related financial services. The company operates an integrated bank-insurance model designed to serve both individual consumers and corporate clients, offering deposit accounts, lending and mortgage products, payment and treasury services, pension and protection insurance, investment solutions and wealth management.

The group’s banking activities include retail and private banking, corporate and commercial banking, and specialized finance such as leasing and factoring.