Private Bancorp (NASDAQ:PBAM) Shares Shorted: Short Interest Up 354.0% in September

Private Bancorp (NASDAQ:PBAM) was the target of a large growth in short interest in September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totaling 135,544 shares, a growth of 354.0% from the September 15th total of 29,857 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 161,326 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.8 days. Approximately 2.4% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Private Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of PBAM stock traded down $0.18 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $85.25. 78,123 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 146,671. The firm has a market cap of $488.48 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.07 and a beta of 0.06. Private Bancorp has a 12-month low of $54.45 and a 12-month high of $92.09.

Private Bancorp (NASDAQ:PBAM) last posted its earnings results on Monday, July 20th. The company reported $2.27 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.00 by $0.27. Private Bancorp had a return on equity of 16.53% and a net margin of 25.45%. The business had revenue of $44.38 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.47 million. As a group, research analysts predict that Private Bancorp will post 8.50 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PBAM has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised Private Bancorp to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 24th. DA Davidson set a $105.00 price target on shares of Private Bancorp in a research note on Monday, August 24th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Private Bancorp from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 29th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Private Bancorp from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, June 19th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Private Bancorp from $88.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 20th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $93.67.

About Private Bancorp

PrivateBancorp, Inc was a bank holding company headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. Through its principal banking subsidiary, The PrivateBank and Trust Company, it provided commercial banking, private banking and wealth management services to businesses, professionals, executives and high-net-worth individuals.

The company offered deposit accounts, commercial and real estate lending, treasury management, investment management and trust services. Its commercial banking activities included financing for middle-market companies, commercial real estate developers and investors, while its private banking business served clients with customized lending, deposit and financial planning needs.

PrivateBancorp operated primarily in the Midwest and other selected U.S.