LCNB Corporation (NASDAQ:LCNB) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Key Points

• Short interest in LCNB surged 79.1% in June, reaching 162,461 shares as of June 30. That equals about 1.2% of the float and implies a 2.9-day days-to-cover ratio.
• LCNB reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings, posting $0.53 EPS versus the $0.44 consensus estimate. Revenue came in at $25.14 million, and the company maintained a net margin of 18.50%.
• The bank continues to offer a meaningful dividend yield, paying a quarterly dividend of $0.22 for an annualized yield of 4.4%. Wall Street sentiment remains positive, with Weiss Ratings upgrading the stock to a buy.

LCNB Corporation (NASDAQ:LCNB - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in June. As of June 30th, there was short interest totaling 162,461 shares, an increase of 79.1% from the June 15th total of 90,713 shares. Currently, 1.2% of the company's stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 56,273 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.9 days.

LCNB Price Performance

LCNB opened at $19.78 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $281.87 million, a PE ratio of 12.29 and a beta of 0.58. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $17.05 and a 200-day moving average price of $16.81. LCNB has a 1 year low of $14.11 and a 1 year high of $20.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.93.

LCNB (NASDAQ:LCNB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 16th. The bank reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $25.14 million for the quarter. LCNB had a net margin of 18.50% and a return on equity of 8.48%. Sell-side analysts predict that LCNB will post 1.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

LCNB Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 1st were issued a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 1st. LCNB's payout ratio is presently 54.66%.

Institutional Trading of LCNB

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its holdings in shares of LCNB by 202.5% during the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 3,803 shares of the bank's stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 2,546 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position in LCNB by 182.7% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 3,602 shares of the bank's stock worth $54,000 after buying an additional 2,328 shares during the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co raised its position in LCNB by 57.7% in the 4th quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 1,648 shares of the bank's stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 603 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in LCNB by 5.9% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 37,411 shares of the bank's stock valued at $583,000 after acquiring an additional 2,079 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in LCNB by 5.8% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 523,527 shares of the bank's stock valued at $8,162,000 after acquiring an additional 28,883 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 34.73% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Weiss Ratings raised shares of LCNB from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Buy".

About LCNB

LCNB Financial Corp NASDAQ: LCNB is the bank holding company for LCNB National Bank, a community-focused regional bank headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio. Through its banking subsidiary, LCNB provides a full suite of deposit and lending solutions designed to meet the needs of individual consumers, small businesses, and middle-market commercial clients. The company emphasizes personalized service, offering checking, savings, money market, and certificate of deposit accounts alongside digital and mobile banking platforms.

On the lending side, LCNB National Bank extends a range of credit products, including commercial and industrial loans, real estate and construction financing, agricultural loans, residential mortgages, and consumer lending.

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