FS Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSBW) Short Interest Update

Key Points

• Short interest jumped 31.2% in March to 82,873 shares (about 1.3% of shares outstanding) with a days-to-cover ratio of 6.6, signaling increased bearish positioning.
• FSBW reported Q1 EPS of $1.10 (missing estimates by $0.03) while revenue beat expectations; the stock trades around $38.13 with a PE of 8.9 and a consensus analyst rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target of $46.00.

FS Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSBW - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 82,873 shares, an increase of 31.2% from the February 26th total of 63,163 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 12,572 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 6.6 days. Approximately 1.3% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

FS Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of FSBW traded down $0.75 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $38.13. 12,309 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 13,931. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The company has a market capitalization of $285.98 million, a PE ratio of 8.91 and a beta of 0.71. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $40.61 and a 200-day simple moving average of $40.53. FS Bancorp has a one year low of $34.61 and a one year high of $44.22.

FS Bancorp (NASDAQ:FSBW - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 21st. The bank reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.13 by ($0.03). FS Bancorp had a return on equity of 11.08% and a net margin of 15.19%.The company had revenue of $40.01 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.20 million. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that FS Bancorp will post 4.26 earnings per share for the current year.

FS Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 6th were paid a dividend of $0.29 per share. This is a boost from FS Bancorp's previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 6th. FS Bancorp's payout ratio is currently 27.10%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of FS Bancorp in a research report on Friday, January 9th. DA Davidson boosted their target price on shares of FS Bancorp from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, FS Bancorp presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $46.00.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of FS Bancorp by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 418,353 shares of the bank's stock valued at $17,224,000 after acquiring an additional 1,727 shares during the period. De Lisle Partners LLP boosted its stake in FS Bancorp by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter. De Lisle Partners LLP now owns 385,451 shares of the bank's stock worth $15,193,000 after purchasing an additional 5,530 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in FS Bancorp by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 163,340 shares of the bank's stock worth $6,434,000 after purchasing an additional 826 shares in the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP grew its position in FS Bancorp by 35.1% during the 3rd quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 103,348 shares of the bank's stock worth $4,126,000 after purchasing an additional 26,840 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in FS Bancorp by 6.9% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 85,878 shares of the bank's stock valued at $3,382,000 after purchasing an additional 5,562 shares during the period. 63.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

FS Bancorp Company Profile

FS Bancorp, Inc NASDAQ: FSBW is a bank holding company headquartered in Illinois that provides community banking services in the Midwestern United States. Through its wholly owned banking subsidiary, the company offers a full suite of deposit products, including checking and savings accounts, money market instruments, certificates of deposit and online banking platforms.

On the lending side, FS Bancorp extends commercial and industrial loans, residential mortgage financing, consumer credit and agricultural lending.

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