Timberland Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSBK) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Timberland Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSBK) was the target of a large growth in short interest in the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 17,100 shares, a growth of 19.6% from the December 31st total of 14,300 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 12,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.4 days. Currently, 0.2% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Jonathan Arthur Fischer sold 1,790 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.02, for a total transaction of $59,105.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 4,550 shares in the company, valued at approximately $150,241. The trade was a 28.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In the last quarter, insiders sold 4,111 shares of company stock worth $135,819. 3.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Timberland Bancorp

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Prospector Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Timberland Bancorp in the 3rd quarter valued at about $565,000. De Lisle Partners LLP lifted its stake in Timberland Bancorp by 34.3% in the third quarter. De Lisle Partners LLP now owns 53,633 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $1,619,000 after buying an additional 13,698 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Timberland Bancorp by 141.1% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 14,294 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $433,000 after acquiring an additional 8,365 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Timberland Bancorp during the third quarter worth approximately $251,000. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its position in shares of Timberland Bancorp by 52.1% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 19,643 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $595,000 after acquiring an additional 6,725 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.49% of the company’s stock.

Timberland Bancorp Trading Down 0.4 %

NASDAQ:TSBK opened at $30.02 on Monday. Timberland Bancorp has a 1 year low of $23.93 and a 1 year high of $33.98. The stock has a market cap of $239.26 million, a P/E ratio of 9.72 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 0.97. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $30.95 and a 200-day simple moving average of $30.44.

Timberland Bancorp (NASDAQ:TSBK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The savings and loans company reported $0.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Timberland Bancorp had a return on equity of 10.28% and a net margin of 22.88%.

Timberland Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.33%. Timberland Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.36%.

About Timberland Bancorp

Timberland Bancorp, Inc operates as the bank holding company for Timberland Bank that provides various community banking services in Washington. It offers various deposit products, including money market deposit, checking, and regular savings accounts, as well as certificates of deposit. The company also provides one-to four-family residential, multi-family, and commercial real estate loans; and construction lending products, such as custom and owner/builder, speculative one- to four-family, commercial, multi-family, land development, and land development.