BayFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:BAFN) Stock Short Interest Climbs 66.9%

Key Points

• Short interest surged 66.9% to 647,053 shares as of September 30, representing 5.5% of BayFirst Financial’s outstanding shares and 2.5 days to cover.
• BayFirst reported weak quarterly results, including a $8.05 loss per share, $2.61 million in revenue, an 80.74% negative net margin, and a 101.15% negative return on equity.
• Analyst sentiment remains negative: BayFirst carries a consensus “Sell” rating, while the stock opened at $6.34 and remained below its 50-day moving average of $7.17.

BayFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:BAFN - Get Free Report) was the target of a large increase in short interest in September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totaling 647,053 shares, an increase of 66.9% from the September 15th total of 387,576 shares. Currently, 5.5% of the company's shares are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 256,926 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.5 days.

BayFirst Financial Price Performance

Shares of BayFirst Financial stock opened at $6.34 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. BayFirst Financial has a 1-year low of $4.26 and a 1-year high of $10.18. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $7.17 and a 200-day simple moving average of $6.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $170.95 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.43 and a beta of 0.52.

BayFirst Financial (NASDAQ:BAFN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 13th. The company reported ($8.05) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The business had revenue of $2.61 million during the quarter. BayFirst Financial had a negative net margin of 80.74% and a negative return on equity of 101.15%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

An institutional investor recently bought a new position in BayFirst Financial stock. Tactive Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of BayFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:BAFN - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 15,460 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $98,000. Tactive Advisors LLC owned 0.38% of BayFirst Financial as of its most recent SEC filing. 16.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BAFN has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings downgraded BayFirst Financial from a "sell (d)" rating to a "sell (d-)" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 20th. Wall Street Zen raised BayFirst Financial to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, September 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Sell rating. According to MarketBeat.com, BayFirst Financial presently has a consensus rating of "Sell".

About BayFirst Financial

BayFirst Financial Corp. is a bank holding company headquartered in St. Petersburg, Florida. Through its subsidiary, BayFirst National Bank, the company provides banking and financial services to individuals, families, businesses and nonprofit organizations.

BayFirst National Bank offers deposit products, consumer and commercial lending, business banking, treasury management and other traditional community-banking services. Its lending activities include commercial real estate, commercial and industrial loans, residential mortgage lending and Small Business Administration (SBA) loans.

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