SB Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SBFG) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

SB Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SBFG) was the target of a large growth in short interest in the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 130,800 shares, a growth of 3,342.1% from the December 31st total of 3,800 shares. Approximately 2.2% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 20,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 6.4 days.

SB Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of SB Financial Group stock traded up $0.65 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $21.92. 8,480 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 16,246. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $21.13 and a 200-day simple moving average of $18.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.91. SB Financial Group has a 52 week low of $13.01 and a 52 week high of $23.00. The firm has a market cap of $145.78 million, a P/E ratio of 12.59 and a beta of 0.77.

SB Financial Group (NASDAQ:SBFG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.11. SB Financial Group had a return on equity of 9.42% and a net margin of 14.53%. Research analysts forecast that SB Financial Group will post 1.58 earnings per share for the current year.

SB Financial Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $0.145 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $0.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.65%. SB Financial Group’s payout ratio is currently 33.72%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On SB Financial Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in SBFG. Barclays PLC raised its position in shares of SB Financial Group by 325.1% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,271 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 972 shares during the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of SB Financial Group during the fourth quarter worth $408,000. Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in shares of SB Financial Group by 5.2% during the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 37,762 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $776,000 after acquiring an additional 1,876 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of SB Financial Group by 3.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 71,076 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,462,000 after purchasing an additional 2,416 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 66.67% of the company’s stock.

About SB Financial Group

SB Financial Group, Inc operates as the financial holding company for the State Bank and Trust Company that provides a range of commercial banking and wealth management services to individual and corporate customers primarily in Ohio, Indiana, and Michigan. It offers checking, savings, money market accounts, as well as time certificates of deposit; and commercial, consumer, agricultural, and residential mortgage loans.