Western New England Bancorp $WNEB Shares Sold by Royce & Associates LP

Key Points

• Royce & Associates LP reduced its stake in Western New England Bancorp by 13.9% in the fourth quarter, selling 126,909 shares and leaving it with 783,722 shares worth about $9.9 million.
• Several other institutional investors also adjusted positions, and overall institutional ownership remains high at 67.95%. Meanwhile, insider selling included transactions by SVP Darlene M. Libiszewski and Director Philip R. Smith.
• Western New England Bancorp recently beat earnings estimates with quarterly EPS of $0.24 versus the expected $0.21, and it paid a quarterly dividend of $0.07 per share, implying an annualized yield of about 2.1%.

Royce & Associates LP cut its stake in Western New England Bancorp (NASDAQ:WNEB - Free Report) by 13.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 783,722 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 126,909 shares during the quarter. Royce & Associates LP owned about 3.82% of Western New England Bancorp worth $9,891,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Russell Investments Group Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Western New England Bancorp in the 2nd quarter worth $39,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in shares of Western New England Bancorp by 95.7% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 5,003 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $60,000 after acquiring an additional 2,446 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of Western New England Bancorp by 51,300.0% in the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 8,738 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $81,000 after acquiring an additional 8,721 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Western New England Bancorp in the 2nd quarter worth $93,000. Finally, Occudo Quantitative Strategies LP acquired a new stake in shares of Western New England Bancorp in the 2nd quarter worth $100,000. 67.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Seaport Research Partners raised their price objective on Western New England Bancorp from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $15.00 price objective on shares of Western New England Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Weiss Ratings raised Western New England Bancorp from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Zacks Research downgraded Western New England Bancorp from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Hovde Group raised Western New England Bancorp to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $15.00.

Insider Activity at Western New England Bancorp

In other Western New England Bancorp news, SVP Darlene M. Libiszewski sold 3,680 shares of Western New England Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.42, for a total transaction of $49,385.60. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 14,048 shares of the company's stock, valued at $188,524.16. The trade was a 20.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Philip R. Smith sold 3,000 shares of Western New England Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.17, for a total value of $39,510.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 7,497 shares in the company, valued at approximately $98,735.49. This trade represents a 28.58% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 6.56% of the company's stock.

Western New England Bancorp Price Performance

WNEB stock opened at $13.34 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $13.44 and a 200 day moving average price of $13.08. The stock has a market cap of $268.40 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.99 and a beta of 0.79. Western New England Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $8.52 and a fifty-two week high of $14.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37.

Western New England Bancorp (NASDAQ:WNEB - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The financial services provider reported $0.24 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $21.82 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $21.96 million. Western New England Bancorp had a return on equity of 7.25% and a net margin of 13.27%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Western New England Bancorp will post 1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western New England Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 13th were given a dividend of $0.07 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 13th. This represents a $0.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. Western New England Bancorp's payout ratio is 31.46%.

About Western New England Bancorp

Western New England Bancorp is a bank holding company headquartered in Westfield, Massachusetts. Through its wholly owned subsidiary, Westfield Bank, the company provides a full suite of commercial and consumer banking services. Its operations focus on serving small to mid-sized businesses, professional practices, and individual customers, with a strategy centered on relationship-driven banking and community involvement.

The company's core offerings include deposit products such as checking, savings and money market accounts, along with business cash-management solutions.

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