LCNB Corporation (NASDAQ:LCNB) Short Interest Down 28.2% in April

Key Points

• Short interest down 28.2% — as of April 15 short interest totaled 74,911 shares, a 28.2% decline from March 31, with a days-to-cover of 3.3 and just 0.6% of shares sold short.
• Earnings miss but strong dividend — LCNB reported $0.31 EPS versus $0.35 expected, and pays a $0.22 quarterly dividend (annualized yield ~5.4%).
• Analyst and insider activity — Weiss Ratings reiterated a "Buy (b-)" and the consensus is "Buy"; EVP Michael R. Miller sold 2,759 shares, insiders own 5.67% and institutions hold about 34.7% of the stock.

LCNB Corporation (NASDAQ:LCNB - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant drop in short interest in April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totaling 74,911 shares, a drop of 28.2% from the March 31st total of 104,368 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 22,498 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.3 days. Currently, 0.6% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of LCNB in a report on Friday, April 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy".

Insider Buying and Selling at LCNB

In related news, EVP Michael Robert Miller sold 2,759 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.75, for a total value of $48,972.25. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 16,798 shares in the company, valued at $298,164.50. The trade was a 14.11% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 5.67% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On LCNB

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co boosted its stake in shares of LCNB by 57.7% during the 4th quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 1,648 shares of the bank's stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 603 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of LCNB by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 180,882 shares of the bank's stock worth $2,965,000 after purchasing an additional 623 shares during the last quarter. Souders Financial Advisors boosted its stake in shares of LCNB by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Souders Financial Advisors now owns 17,734 shares of the bank's stock worth $291,000 after purchasing an additional 813 shares during the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of LCNB by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 27,904 shares of the bank's stock worth $457,000 after purchasing an additional 1,167 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of LCNB by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 329,487 shares of the bank's stock worth $5,402,000 after purchasing an additional 1,171 shares during the last quarter. 34.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

LCNB Price Performance

NASDAQ:LCNB traded down $0.24 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $16.22. 14,886 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 26,685. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.93. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $16.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $16.37. LCNB has a 1 year low of $13.75 and a 1 year high of $17.89. The company has a market cap of $230.94 million, a PE ratio of 10.07 and a beta of 0.59.

LCNB (NASDAQ:LCNB - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The bank reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.35 by ($0.04). LCNB had a net margin of 18.50% and a return on equity of 8.53%. The business had revenue of $23.54 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $23.30 million. Sell-side analysts expect that LCNB will post 1.67 EPS for the current year.

LCNB Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 2nd. LCNB's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 54.66%.

LCNB Company Profile

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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