SB Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SBFG) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

Key Points

• Short interest fell 37.1% to 23,329 shares as of July 15, representing 0.4% of outstanding shares and just 0.7 days to cover.
• SB Financial Group exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $0.73 in EPS versus $0.69 expected and $18.0 million in revenue versus a $12.7 million estimate.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.16 per share, equivalent to $0.64 annually and a 2.5% yield; analysts’ consensus rating is “Moderate Buy.”

SB Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SBFG - Get Free Report) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in the month of July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totaling 23,329 shares, a decrease of 37.1% from the June 30th total of 37,080 shares. Currently, 0.4% of the company's shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 31,114 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 0.7 days.

Institutional Trading of SB Financial Group

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of SBFG. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in SB Financial Group by 7.8% during the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 34,053 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $758,000 after acquiring an additional 2,458 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its stake in SB Financial Group by 12.9% in the third quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 31,001 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $598,000 after purchasing an additional 3,542 shares in the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN increased its stake in SB Financial Group by 28.4% in the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 9,151 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $204,000 after purchasing an additional 2,025 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of SB Financial Group by 56.0% during the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 5,761 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $119,000 after purchasing an additional 2,068 shares during the period. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund acquired a new position in shares of SB Financial Group during the second quarter valued at about $107,000. Institutional investors own 66.67% of the company's stock.

SB Financial Group Trading Down 3.4%

Shares of SBFG stock traded down $0.90 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $25.73. The company's stock had a trading volume of 219 shares, compared to its average volume of 22,084. The company has a market cap of $161.55 million, a PE ratio of 9.60 and a beta of 0.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 0.94. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $24.18 and its 200-day simple moving average is $22.39. SB Financial Group has a 52 week low of $18.16 and a 52 week high of $27.68.

SB Financial Group (NASDAQ:SBFG - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.73 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.04. SB Financial Group had a return on equity of 11.95% and a net margin of 17.67%.The company had revenue of $18.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.70 million. As a group, equities research analysts expect that SB Financial Group will post 2.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SB Financial Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.16 per share. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 14th. SB Financial Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 23.88%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on SBFG shares. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of SB Financial Group in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of SB Financial Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy".

About SB Financial Group

SB Financial Group, Inc NASDAQ: SBFG is the bank holding company for Star Financial Bank, a full-service community bank headquartered in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Through its wholly owned subsidiary, the company offers a broad portfolio of commercial and consumer banking products, including deposit accounts, lending solutions, mortgage origination and servicing, and cash management services.

In its commercial banking division, SB Financial Group provides working capital loans, equipment financing, commercial real estate lending and treasury management solutions designed for small- and mid-sized businesses.

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