Western New England Bancorp (NASDAQ:WNEB) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Western New England Bancorp (NASDAQ:WNEB) has received an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from analysts, with a 12-month price target of $11.00.
• SVP Darlene M. Libiszewski sold 3,600 shares at an average price of $12.39, resulting in an 18.33% decrease in her ownership, while Director Philip R. Smith sold 4,000 shares, reducing his stake by 27.59%.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.07, yielding an annualized 2.4%, with a payout ratio of 47.46%.

Western New England Bancorp (NASDAQ:WNEB - Get Free Report) has earned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the three analysts that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $11.00.

WNEB has been the topic of several recent research reports. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Western New England Bancorp from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Western New England Bancorp in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Western New England Bancorp from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 26th.

Insider Transactions at Western New England Bancorp

In other news, SVP Darlene M. Libiszewski sold 3,600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.39, for a total transaction of $44,604.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 16,044 shares in the company, valued at $198,785.16. This represents a 18.33% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Philip R. Smith sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.79, for a total transaction of $43,160.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 10,497 shares in the company, valued at approximately $113,262.63. The trade was a 27.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 6.12% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Western New England Bancorp

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC grew its position in Western New England Bancorp by 3.9% in the second quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 221,950 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,049,000 after acquiring an additional 8,331 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in shares of Western New England Bancorp by 12.5% during the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 53,368 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $493,000 after buying an additional 5,931 shares in the last quarter. Occudo Quantitative Strategies LP acquired a new stake in shares of Western New England Bancorp during the second quarter worth approximately $100,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Western New England Bancorp during the second quarter worth approximately $93,000. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP grew its position in shares of Western New England Bancorp by 66.3% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 81,549 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $753,000 after buying an additional 32,502 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.95% of the company's stock.

Western New England Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WNEB traded up $0.17 on Friday, reaching $11.74. 69,981 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 66,740. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. Western New England Bancorp has a 1-year low of $7.63 and a 1-year high of $12.80. The firm has a market cap of $240.55 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.61 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a 50-day moving average of $11.88 and a 200-day moving average of $10.17.

Western New England Bancorp (NASDAQ:WNEB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.09. Western New England Bancorp had a net margin of 9.51% and a return on equity of 5.07%. The business had revenue of $21.05 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $16.35 million. Equities analysts forecast that Western New England Bancorp will post 0.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western New England Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 6th were issued a $0.07 dividend. This represents a $0.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 6th. Western New England Bancorp's dividend payout ratio is 47.46%.

Western New England Bancorp Company Profile

Western New England Bancorp, Inc operates as the holding company for Westfield Bank that provides a range of commercial and retail banking products and services to individuals and businesses. The company accepts various deposit accounts, including interest-bearing and noninterest-bearing checking, commercial checking, business, nonprofit and municipal checking, savings, money market and sweep, individual retirement, and other savings accounts; time deposits; certificates of deposit; and interest on lawyer's trust accounts.

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