Hawthorn Bancshares (NASDAQ:HWBK) Cut to “Hold” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Hawthorn Bancshares (NASDAQ:HWBK) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Friday morning.

Hawthorn Bancshares Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:HWBK opened at $29.46 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $205.84 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.73 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $29.88 and a 200-day moving average price of $25.02. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. Hawthorn Bancshares has a 12 month low of $17.86 and a 12 month high of $34.00.

Hawthorn Bancshares Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Stockholders of record on Sunday, December 15th were paid a dividend of $0.19 per share. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. Hawthorn Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 84.44%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Jonathan Holtaway sold 1,015 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.25, for a total value of $32,733.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 390,004 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,577,629. This represents a 0.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Frank E. Burkhead sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.87, for a total transaction of $95,610.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,477 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $365,771.99. The trade was a 20.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 9,457 shares of company stock valued at $285,175 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 23.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hawthorn Bancshares

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its holdings in Hawthorn Bancshares by 36.5% in the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 25,043 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $496,000 after purchasing an additional 6,700 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in Hawthorn Bancshares by 5.2% in the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 27,169 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $680,000 after purchasing an additional 1,340 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Hawthorn Bancshares by 11.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 68,657 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,719,000 after purchasing an additional 6,955 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 30.73% of the company’s stock.

About Hawthorn Bancshares

Hawthorn Bancshares, Inc operates as the bank holding company for Hawthorn Bank that provides various banking services in the United States. It accepts checking, savings, money market, individual retirement, and other time deposit accounts, as well as certificates of deposit. The company also offers commercial and industrial, single payment personal, installment, commercial and residential real estate, and consumer loans, as well as equipment, operating, and small business administration loans; and debit and credit cards.