Hennessy Advisors Inc. Reduces Holdings in ConnectOne Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:CNOB)

Hennessy Advisors Inc. decreased its position in shares of ConnectOne Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:CNOB) by 46.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 85,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 75,000 shares during the quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. owned 0.22% of ConnectOne Bancorp worth $1,658,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CNOB. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of ConnectOne Bancorp by 206.8% during the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,123 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 757 shares in the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC purchased a new position in shares of ConnectOne Bancorp during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $53,000. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new position in shares of ConnectOne Bancorp during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $80,000. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of ConnectOne Bancorp during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $165,000. Finally, Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in ConnectOne Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at $207,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on CNOB. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $22.00 price objective (down previously from $24.00) on shares of ConnectOne Bancorp in a report on Friday, May 31st. StockNews.com raised ConnectOne Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $24.00.

ConnectOne Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CNOB traded up $0.64 on Friday, hitting $18.58. The company had a trading volume of 63,538 shares, compared to its average volume of 162,417. 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, Inc. has a 52-week low of $14.51 and a 52-week high of $24.44. The business has a 50 day moving average of $18.89 and a 200 day moving average of $20.22. The company has a market cap of $712.17 million, a PE ratio of 9.79 and a beta of 1.27.

ConnectOne Bancorp (NASDAQ:CNOB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.42 by ($0.01). ConnectOne Bancorp had a net margin of 15.29% and a return on equity of 7.39%. The company had revenue of $64.15 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $63.93 million. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that ConnectOne Bancorp, Inc. will post 1.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ConnectOne Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th were issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 14th. This is an increase from ConnectOne Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. ConnectOne Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 38.10%.

ConnectOne Bancorp Profile

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.