Short Interest in USCB Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:USCB) Rises By 139.2%

USCB Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:USCB - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 138,500 shares, a growth of 139.2% from the March 15th total of 57,900 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 27,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 5.1 days. Approximately 1.4% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

USCB Financial Price Performance

NASDAQ USCB traded up $0.08 on Friday, reaching $17.06. The company's stock had a trading volume of 23,978 shares, compared to its average volume of 27,943. The firm's 50 day moving average is $18.21 and its two-hundred day moving average is $17.98. The stock has a market cap of $342.10 million, a PE ratio of 13.87 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.91. USCB Financial has a twelve month low of $10.25 and a twelve month high of $21.86.

USCB Financial (NASDAQ:USCB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.36 by ($0.02). USCB Financial had a net margin of 17.14% and a return on equity of 12.14%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that USCB Financial will post 1.58 EPS for the current year.

USCB Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This is an increase from USCB Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.05. USCB Financial's payout ratio is presently 32.52%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Raymond James downgraded USCB Financial from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in USCB. Mendon Capital Advisors Corp lifted its position in shares of USCB Financial by 7.4% in the 4th quarter. Mendon Capital Advisors Corp now owns 674,811 shares of the company's stock valued at $11,978,000 after acquiring an additional 46,206 shares in the last quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of USCB Financial by 309.5% in the fourth quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 285,305 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,064,000 after purchasing an additional 215,636 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of USCB Financial by 1.4% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 237,892 shares of the company's stock worth $3,628,000 after buying an additional 3,250 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its stake in USCB Financial by 17.6% in the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 117,088 shares of the company's stock worth $2,078,000 after acquiring an additional 17,488 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in USCB Financial by 12.5% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 100,597 shares of the company's stock worth $1,786,000 after acquiring an additional 11,199 shares during the period. 61.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About USCB Financial

USCB Financial Holdings, Inc operates as the bank holding company for U.S. Century Bank that engages in the provision of various personal and business banking products and services in the United States. It accepts various deposit products, including commercial and consumer checking, money market deposit, savings, and time deposit accounts, as well as certificates of deposit.