ConnectOne Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:CNOB) Short Interest Up 41.5% in March

ConnectOne Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:CNOB) saw a large growth in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,270,000 shares, a growth of 41.5% from the February 29th total of 897,800 shares. Currently, 3.5% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 178,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 7.1 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in ConnectOne Bancorp by 16.3% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 397,188 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,082,000 after acquiring an additional 55,682 shares during the last quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in ConnectOne Bancorp in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,086,000. Swiss National Bank increased its holdings in shares of ConnectOne Bancorp by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 81,900 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,460,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of ConnectOne Bancorp by 27.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,500,507 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $62,414,000 after buying an additional 743,209 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rosenthal Henry Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of ConnectOne Bancorp during the 3rd quarter worth $1,685,000. 67.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

ConnectOne Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CNOB traded up $0.14 during trading on Friday, hitting $19.50. 263,517 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 186,953. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $20.48 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $19.96. The company has a market cap of $748.80 million, a PE ratio of 9.42 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. ConnectOne Bancorp has a 12-month low of $13.11 and a 12-month high of $24.44.

ConnectOne Bancorp (NASDAQ:CNOB) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.03. ConnectOne Bancorp had a return on equity of 8.14% and a net margin of 17.26%. The firm had revenue of $66.03 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $65.50 million. On average, analysts forecast that ConnectOne Bancorp will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

ConnectOne Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 15th were issued a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 14th. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.49%. ConnectOne Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.85%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on CNOB shares. Raymond James lifted their price objective on ConnectOne Bancorp from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on ConnectOne Bancorp from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on ConnectOne Bancorp from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $25.25.

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.