HighTower Advisors LLC Buys Shares of 11,570 ConnectOne Bancorp, Inc. $CNOB

Key Points

• HighTower Advisors LLC acquired 11,570 shares of ConnectOne Bancorp, Inc., valued at approximately $281,000, during the first quarter.
• ConnectOne Bancorp's stock received a positive rating upgrade from "sell" to "hold" by Wall Street Zen, with a consensus price target of $30.25.
• Insider transactions include Director Stephen T. Boswell purchasing 6,200 shares, increasing his ownership, while the company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.18 per share.

HighTower Advisors LLC bought a new stake in ConnectOne Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:CNOB - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 11,570 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $281,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in ConnectOne Bancorp by 0.9% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,186,965 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $53,165,000 after acquiring an additional 20,408 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in ConnectOne Bancorp by 23.2% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 826,463 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $18,934,000 after acquiring an additional 155,573 shares during the last quarter. Stieven Capital Advisors L.P. boosted its stake in ConnectOne Bancorp by 2.9% in the first quarter. Stieven Capital Advisors L.P. now owns 522,982 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $12,714,000 after acquiring an additional 14,717 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in ConnectOne Bancorp in the first quarter valued at about $8,311,000. Finally, Bridgeway Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of ConnectOne Bancorp by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 258,427 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $5,921,000 after purchasing an additional 7,009 shares during the period. 67.70% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Wall Street Zen raised shares of ConnectOne Bancorp from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $30.25.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Stephen T. Boswell purchased 6,200 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The shares were purchased at an average price of $22.23 per share, with a total value of $137,826.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 280,467 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,234,781.41. This represents a 2.26% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Susan C. O'donnell purchased 2,691 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The stock was bought at an average cost of $22.30 per share, for a total transaction of $60,009.30. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 8,523 shares in the company, valued at approximately $190,062.90. The trade was a 46.14% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have purchased a total of 10,391 shares of company stock worth $231,210 in the last ninety days. 6.35% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

ConnectOne Bancorp Stock Performance

ConnectOne Bancorp stock opened at $25.40 on Wednesday. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $24.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $23.64. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.28 billion, a PE ratio of 29.20 and a beta of 1.17. ConnectOne Bancorp, Inc. has a 1-year low of $20.61 and a 1-year high of $29.31.

ConnectOne Bancorp (NASDAQ:CNOB - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $84.65 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $72.80 million. ConnectOne Bancorp had a net margin of 6.85% and a return on equity of 7.12%. As a group, analysts expect that ConnectOne Bancorp, Inc. will post 2.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ConnectOne Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th were issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 15th. ConnectOne Bancorp's dividend payout ratio is 82.76%.

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.

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