ConnectOne Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:CNOB) Short Interest Update

ConnectOne Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:CNOB) was the target of a large decline in short interest in the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 609,000 shares, a decline of 7.1% from the September 15th total of 655,700 shares. Currently, 1.7% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 213,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.9 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CNOB. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC bought a new position in ConnectOne Bancorp in the second quarter valued at $171,000. Evergreen Capital Management LLC bought a new position in ConnectOne Bancorp in the second quarter valued at $196,000. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in ConnectOne Bancorp in the third quarter valued at $246,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its stake in ConnectOne Bancorp by 6.7% in the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 17,938 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $332,000 after acquiring an additional 1,131 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in ConnectOne Bancorp in the first quarter valued at $381,000. Institutional investors own 67.70% of the company’s stock.

ConnectOne Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of ConnectOne Bancorp stock traded up $0.16 during trading on Thursday, hitting $26.68. The stock had a trading volume of 189,383 shares, compared to its average volume of 182,261. The firm has a market cap of $1.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.03 and a beta of 1.25. ConnectOne Bancorp has a 12 month low of $14.51 and a 12 month high of $27.13. The business’s 50-day moving average is $24.32 and its 200 day moving average is $21.24. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

ConnectOne Bancorp (NASDAQ:CNOB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $134.41 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.62 million. ConnectOne Bancorp had a net margin of 14.56% and a return on equity of 7.13%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.51 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that ConnectOne Bancorp will post 1.78 earnings per share for the current year.

ConnectOne Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th were paid a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.70%. ConnectOne Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 38.10%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on CNOB shares. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of ConnectOne Bancorp from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $26.00 price target (up previously from $22.00) on shares of ConnectOne Bancorp in a report on Friday, July 26th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $26.33.

About ConnectOne Bancorp

ConnectOne Bancorp, Inc operates as the bank holding company for ConnectOne Bank that provides commercial banking products and services for small and mid-sized businesses, local professionals, and individuals in the New York Metropolitan area and South Florida market. The company offers personal and business checking, money market, and time and savings accounts; credit cards, wire transfers, safe deposit boxes, automated teller services and telephone, and internet and mobile banking.