ConnectOne Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:CNOB) Short Interest Down 26.3% in May

ConnectOne Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:CNOB) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in May. As of May 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,010,000 shares, a decrease of 26.3% from the May 15th total of 1,370,000 shares. Approximately 2.9% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 143,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 7.0 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ConnectOne Bancorp

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CNOB. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of ConnectOne Bancorp by 16.3% during 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 purchasing 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 worth about $1,086,000. Swiss National Bank raised its position in ConnectOne Bancorp by 1.2% in the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 81,900 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,460,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of ConnectOne Bancorp by 27.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,500,507 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $62,414,000 after purchasing an additional 743,209 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of ConnectOne Bancorp by 118.2% in the fourth quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC now owns 246,232 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,641,000 after buying an additional 133,384 shares during the period. 67.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

ConnectOne Bancorp Price Performance

NASDAQ CNOB traded down $0.49 on Friday, hitting $17.36. 194,253 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 137,092. ConnectOne Bancorp has a 1-year low of $14.51 and a 1-year high of $24.44. The company has a market cap of $665.41 million, a P/E ratio of 9.19 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $18.99 and a two-hundred day moving average of $20.41.

ConnectOne Bancorp (NASDAQ:CNOB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.41 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by ($0.01). ConnectOne Bancorp had a return on equity of 7.39% and a net margin of 15.29%. The business had revenue of $64.15 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $63.93 million. On average, equities analysts predict that ConnectOne Bancorp will post 1.66 EPS for the current year.

ConnectOne Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. This is a positive change from ConnectOne Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.15%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 14th. ConnectOne Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is 38.10%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on CNOB. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $22.00 price target (down from $24.00) on shares of ConnectOne Bancorp in a research note on Friday, May 31st. StockNews.com raised shares of ConnectOne Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $24.00.

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.