Swedbank AB (OTCMKTS:SWDBY) Short Interest Up 29.9% in April

Key Points

• Short interest jumped 29.9% in April to 40,921 shares as of April 15, leaving a short-interest ratio of 0.6 days and roughly 0.0% of shares reported short sold.
• Swedbank traded at SEK 34.59 (market cap $38.89B) and reported Q1 EPS of SEK 0.71 with a net margin of 30.27% and ROE of 15.5%; sell-side analysts expect about SEK 3.05 in EPS for the fiscal year and the stock trades at a P/E of 11.69.
• Street sentiment is negative, with an average rating of "Reduce" (three Hold and three Sell), including a Morgan Stanley Underweight and a Citigroup Neutral call after Zacks cut to Hold.

Swedbank AB (OTCMKTS:SWDBY - Get Free Report) was the target of a large growth in short interest in April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totaling 40,921 shares, a growth of 29.9% from the March 31st total of 31,492 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 70,058 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.6 days. Approximately 0.0% of the company's stock are short sold.

Swedbank Stock Performance

SWDBY traded down SEK 0.14 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching SEK 34.59. The company had a trading volume of 7,655 shares, compared to its average volume of 27,299. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.42, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a current ratio of 1.51. The stock has a market cap of $38.89 billion, a PE ratio of 11.69, a P/E/G ratio of 4.60 and a beta of 0.72. Swedbank has a 12-month low of SEK 24.56 and a 12-month high of SEK 40.58. The business has a 50-day moving average price of SEK 36.05 and a two-hundred day moving average price of SEK 34.80.

Swedbank (OTCMKTS:SWDBY - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The financial services provider reported SEK 0.71 earnings per share for the quarter. Swedbank had a net margin of 30.27% and a return on equity of 15.50%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Swedbank will post 3.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on SWDBY shares. Morgan Stanley restated an "underweight" rating on shares of Swedbank in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Citigroup reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Swedbank in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, Zacks Research cut Swedbank from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Reduce".

About Swedbank

Swedbank AB is a major Swedish banking group headquartered in Stockholm that provides a broad range of financial services to retail, corporate and institutional clients. The bank's operations focus on traditional banking functions such as deposit-taking, lending and payment services, as well as wealth management and insurance solutions. Swedbank's franchise is centered on serving households, small and medium-sized enterprises and larger corporate customers, with an emphasis on everyday banking and long-term client relationships.

Products and services offered by Swedbank include savings and current accounts, mortgages and consumer lending, business loans and transaction banking, payment and card services, and digital banking platforms.

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