ConnectOne Bancorp (NASDAQ:CNOB) Sets New 12-Month High – Time to Buy?

Shares of ConnectOne Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:CNOB) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $28.54 and last traded at $28.4110, with a volume of 175607 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $26.80.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen cut shares of ConnectOne Bancorp from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 10th. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on ConnectOne Bancorp in a report on Friday, November 7th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $28.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of ConnectOne Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $29.50.

ConnectOne Bancorp Stock Up 6.4%

The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $26.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $25.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.00 and a beta of 1.13.

ConnectOne Bancorp (NASDAQ:CNOB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.02. ConnectOne Bancorp had a return on equity of 8.22% and a net margin of 9.90%.The company had revenue of $110.78 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $111.20 million. As a group, research analysts expect that ConnectOne Bancorp, Inc. will post 2.23 EPS for the current year.

ConnectOne Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 14th were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 14th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. ConnectOne Bancorp’s payout ratio is 58.06%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ConnectOne Bancorp

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in CNOB. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in ConnectOne Bancorp by 76.8% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,882,584 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $71,517,000 after buying an additional 1,252,614 shares during the last quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in ConnectOne Bancorp in the third quarter valued at $18,974,000. Algebris UK Ltd. bought a new position in shares of ConnectOne Bancorp in the 3rd quarter valued at about $15,379,000. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of ConnectOne Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth about $15,712,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of ConnectOne Bancorp by 33.1% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,160,058 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,870,000 after purchasing an additional 288,530 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.70% of the company’s stock.

About ConnectOne Bancorp

ConnectOne Bancorp is a New Jersey?based bank holding company whose primary subsidiary, ConnectOne Bank, offers a suite of commercial banking services to small and medium?sized businesses, professionals and individuals. Established in 2005 and headquartered in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, the company seeks to deliver customized lending and deposit solutions through a network of branches across northern New Jersey and the New York metropolitan area.

The company’s lending portfolio centers on commercial real estate financing, construction lending, owner?occupied real estate loans and working capital lines of credit.