Short Interest in SR Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SRBK) Grows By 34.0%

SR Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SRBK) saw a large growth in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 624,312 shares, a growth of 34.0% from the March 15th total of 465,840 shares. Approximately 8.1% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 32,140 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 19.4 days.

Insider Activity at SR Bancorp

In related news, CFO Harris M. Faqueri bought 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 16th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $16.40 per share, for a total transaction of $49,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 13,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $213,200. This trade represents a 30.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In the last 90 days, insiders have acquired 5,570 shares of company stock worth $91,979. 7.82% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On SR Bancorp

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Saber Capital Managment LLC purchased a new position in SR Bancorp in the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,270,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in SR Bancorp by 94.5% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 187,005 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,525,000 after acquiring an additional 90,873 shares during the period. Mangrove Partners IM LLC increased its stake in SR Bancorp by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter. Mangrove Partners IM LLC now owns 173,310 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,615,000 after purchasing an additional 8,492 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in SR Bancorp by 28.5% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 63,891 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,006,000 after purchasing an additional 14,183 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Covalent Partners LLC increased its stake in SR Bancorp by 49.0% in the 4th quarter. Covalent Partners LLC now owns 60,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $944,000 after purchasing an additional 19,740 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 24.70% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of SR Bancorp from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, SR Bancorp has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $16.00.

SR Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of SR Bancorp stock traded up $0.37 on Friday, hitting $18.02. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 97,416 shares, compared to its average volume of 36,735. SR Bancorp has a 52-week low of $12.30 and a 52-week high of $18.18. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $17.08 and a 200-day moving average price of $16.17. The company has a market capitalization of $150.25 million, a P/E ratio of 49.99 and a beta of 0.48.

SR Bancorp (NASDAQ:SRBK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The company reported $0.09 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.11 by ($0.02). SR Bancorp had a return on equity of 1.27% and a net margin of 5.82%.The business had revenue of $8.37 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.50 million.

SR Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 31st were paid a $0.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 31st. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. SR Bancorp’s payout ratio is presently 55.56%.

About SR Bancorp

SR Bancorp, Inc is a bank holding company that provides a broad array of banking and financial services through its wholly owned subsidiary. The firm focuses on serving community markets and maintaining close relationships with individuals, small businesses and local institutions.

Its product suite includes traditional deposit accounts such as checking and savings, certificates of deposit and money market accounts. On the lending side, SR Bancorp offers consumer, residential mortgage and commercial loans, as well as specialized lending solutions for small and mid-sized businesses.