Short Interest in S&T Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:STBA) Drops By 18.8%

S&T Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:STBA) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest during the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 788,100 shares, a drop of 18.8% from the October 15th total of 970,100 shares. Approximately 2.1% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 152,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 5.2 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on S&T Bancorp from $32.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. StockNews.com upgraded S&T Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th.

Insider Activity at S&T Bancorp

In other S&T Bancorp news, Director Frank J. Palermo, Jr. sold 4,982 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.21, for a total value of $215,272.22. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 23,143 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,000,009.03. The trade was a 17.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.38% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On S&T Bancorp

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in STBA. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in S&T Bancorp by 4,095.0% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 839 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 819 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of S&T Bancorp by 80.8% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,177 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 526 shares during the period. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of S&T Bancorp in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $53,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of S&T Bancorp by 188.0% in the 1st quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 2,854 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $92,000 after purchasing an additional 1,863 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of S&T Bancorp in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $152,000. 65.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

S&T Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of S&T Bancorp stock traded down $0.07 during trading on Friday, reaching $42.34. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 142,146 shares, compared to its average volume of 163,321. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 0.99. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $40.77 and its 200-day moving average price is $37.62. The firm has a market cap of $1.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.06 and a beta of 0.80. S&T Bancorp has a one year low of $27.43 and a one year high of $45.79.

S&T Bancorp (NASDAQ:STBA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.03. S&T Bancorp had a return on equity of 10.25% and a net margin of 23.69%. The firm had revenue of $96.35 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $98.90 million. As a group, equities research analysts predict that S&T Bancorp will post 3.36 earnings per share for the current year.

S&T Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, November 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.21%. This is a positive change from S&T Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 7th. S&T Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 38.75%.

S&T Bancorp Company Profile

S&T Bancorp, Inc operates as the bank holding company for S&T Bank that engages in the provision of retail and commercial banking products and services. The company operates through six segments: Commercial Real Estate, Commercial and Industrial, Commercial Construction, Business Banking, Consumer Real Estate, and Other Consumer.