FS Bancorp (NASDAQ:FSBW) Upgraded to Hold at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of FS Bancorp (NASDAQ:FSBW) from a strong sell rating to a hold rating in a report released on Monday,Zacks reports.

FSBW has been the topic of a number of other reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of FS Bancorp in a research note on Friday, September 25th. Brean Capital downgraded shares of FS Bancorp from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $45.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Monday, July 27th. Finally, DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $45.00 target price on shares of FS Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, FS Bancorp has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $45.00.

FS Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FSBW opened at $44.65 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $43.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $42.26. FS Bancorp has a 1-year low of $36.66 and a 1-year high of $45.85. The firm has a market cap of $331.75 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.29 and a beta of 0.68.

FS Bancorp (NASDAQ:FSBW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The bank reported $1.08 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08. The firm had revenue of $5.24 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.00 million. FS Bancorp had a return on equity of 10.86% and a net margin of 14.88%. Analysts anticipate that FS Bancorp will post 4.36 earnings per share for the current year.

FS Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 7th were given a dividend of $0.29 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 7th. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. FS Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.73%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Terri Degner sold 975 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.25, for a total value of $42,168.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 1,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $51,900. This trade represents a 44.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 12.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of FS Bancorp

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new position in FS Bancorp during the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,793,000. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of FS Bancorp during the second quarter valued at about $21,213,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in shares of FS Bancorp during the second quarter valued at about $2,150,000. De Lisle Partners LLP bought a new stake in shares of FS Bancorp during the second quarter valued at about $16,956,000. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of FS Bancorp in the second quarter worth about $893,000. 63.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

FS Bancorp Company Profile

FS Bancorp, Inc is the bank holding company for 1st Security Bank of Washington, a community bank headquartered in Mountlake Terrace, Washington. Through its banking subsidiary, the company provides deposit, lending and other financial services to individuals, families and businesses.

1st Security Bank offers checking and savings accounts, certificates of deposit, commercial and small-business banking, residential and commercial real estate loans, construction financing, consumer loans and home equity products.