Origin Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:OBK) Short Interest Up 32.2% in March

Origin Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:OBK) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 570,732 shares, a growth of 32.2% from the March 15th total of 431,569 shares. Currently, 1.9% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 183,373 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.1 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

OBK has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Zacks Research raised shares of Origin Bancorp from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Origin Bancorp from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Origin Bancorp from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, DA Davidson set a $49.00 price target on shares of Origin Bancorp in a report on Friday, January 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.67.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Origin Bancorp

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in OBK. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Origin Bancorp by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,753,530 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,950,000 after acquiring an additional 37,050 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Origin Bancorp by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,376,219 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,760,000 after acquiring an additional 16,639 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its stake in Origin Bancorp by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 923,148 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,720,000 after acquiring an additional 10,741 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in Origin Bancorp by 17.1% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 797,576 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,997,000 after acquiring an additional 116,410 shares during the period. Finally, Tributary Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Origin Bancorp by 92.5% in the 3rd quarter. Tributary Capital Management LLC now owns 790,234 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,279,000 after acquiring an additional 379,716 shares during the period. 54.68% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Origin Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:OBK traded up $1.14 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $45.89. The company had a trading volume of 220,317 shares, compared to its average volume of 211,281. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $42.48 and its 200 day moving average price is $39.05. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The stock has a market cap of $1.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.12 and a beta of 0.68. Origin Bancorp has a 52-week low of $29.77 and a 52-week high of $46.64.

Origin Bancorp (NYSE:OBK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The company reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $94.00 million for the quarter. Origin Bancorp had a net margin of 12.58% and a return on equity of 6.21%.

Origin Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 13th were issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 13th. Origin Bancorp’s payout ratio is 25.00%.

Origin Bancorp Company Profile

Origin Bancorp, Inc (NYSE: OBK) is a bank holding company based in Atlanta, Georgia, and is the parent of Origin Bank, a full-service commercial banking franchise. The company provides a broad range of financial products and services to individuals, small and middle-market businesses, and institutional clients across the southeastern United States.

Through Origin Bank, the company offers a variety of deposit products, including checking and savings accounts, money market accounts, and certificates of deposit.