CNB Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:CCNE) Short Interest Update

Key Points

• Short interest down sharply: Short interest fell 14.5% to 351,681 shares as of March 13 (about 1.2% of shares sold short) with a days-to-cover ratio of roughly 3.0.
• Quarterly beat and higher dividend: CNB reported $0.87 EPS vs. $0.77 expected and $87.16M revenue vs. $73.10M expected, and raised its quarterly dividend to $0.19 (annualized $0.76, ~2.6% yield).
• Upgrades and heavy institutional buying: Several brokers upgraded the stock (Stephens raised its target to $35; consensus target $32) while hedge funds and institutions now own about 52% of the shares after sizable stake increases by firms like Wellington and Vanguard.

CNB Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:CCNE - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest in March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 351,681 shares, a decrease of 14.5% from the February 26th total of 411,345 shares. Currently, 1.2% of the company's shares are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 115,989 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.0 days.

CNB Financial Stock Up 1.4%

Shares of NASDAQ:CCNE traded up $0.41 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $29.01. 63,755 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 162,298. The firm has a market cap of $859.86 million, a P/E ratio of 11.93 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 0.97. CNB Financial has a 52-week low of $19.32 and a 52-week high of $30.84. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $28.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $26.51.

CNB Financial (NASDAQ:CCNE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 27th. The bank reported $0.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.10. CNB Financial had a return on equity of 11.10% and a net margin of 15.29%.The firm had revenue of $87.16 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $73.10 million. On average, equities analysts anticipate that CNB Financial will post 2.04 EPS for the current year.

CNB Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 13th. Investors of record on Friday, February 27th were issued a dividend of $0.19 per share. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 27th. This is a positive change from CNB Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. CNB Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.28%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CNB Financial

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CCNE. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in CNB Financial by 116.1% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,876,033 shares of the bank's stock valued at $45,400,000 after purchasing an additional 1,007,751 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in CNB Financial by 38.3% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,572,656 shares of the bank's stock worth $38,058,000 after purchasing an additional 435,300 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of CNB Financial by 37.8% in the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,480,034 shares of the bank's stock valued at $35,817,000 after purchasing an additional 406,167 shares in the last quarter. Maltese Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of CNB Financial by 228.4% during the third quarter. Maltese Capital Management LLC now owns 478,200 shares of the bank's stock worth $11,572,000 after buying an additional 332,600 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its stake in shares of CNB Financial by 335.7% in the third quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 266,663 shares of the bank's stock worth $6,453,000 after buying an additional 205,464 shares during the last quarter. 52.35% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on CCNE. Stephens lifted their price target on shares of CNB Financial from $28.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of CNB Financial from a "hold (c)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of CNB Financial from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, February 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CNB Financial currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $32.00.

CNB Financial Company Profile

CNB Financial Corporation NASDAQ: CCNE is a bank holding company headquartered in Clearfield, Pennsylvania. The company operates through its wholly owned subsidiary, CNB Bank & Trust, providing a full suite of community banking services. With a focus on relationship-driven banking, CNB Financial seeks to serve individuals, small businesses and agricultural clients across central Pennsylvania.

The company's core offerings include deposit products such as checking accounts, savings accounts, money market accounts and certificates of deposit.

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