Short Interest in SB Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SBFG) Decreases By 70.4%

SB Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SBFG) was the target of a large decrease in short interest during the month of June. As of June 30th, there was short interest totaling 37,080 shares, a decrease of 70.4% from the June 15th total of 125,380 shares. Approximately 0.6% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 131,049 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.3 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On SB Financial Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in shares of SB Financial Group by 10.8% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 19,633 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $412,000 after acquiring an additional 1,908 shares during the last quarter. Globeflex Capital L P bought a new stake in SB Financial Group during the first quarter worth approximately $149,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in SB Financial Group by 3.0% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 197,772 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,153,000 after purchasing an additional 5,677 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its position in SB Financial Group by 22.7% during the first quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 31,832 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $672,000 after purchasing an additional 5,896 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of SB Financial Group by 27.0% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 13,301 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $296,000 after purchasing an additional 2,830 shares during the last quarter. 66.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SBFG has been the topic of several analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of SB Financial Group in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Wall Street Zen raised SB Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, SB Financial Group presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy”.

SB Financial Group Stock Performance

Shares of SB Financial Group stock traded down $0.56 on Tuesday, hitting $26.00. 8,963 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 21,931. SB Financial Group has a 1 year low of $18.16 and a 1 year high of $26.80. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $23.06 and a 200-day simple moving average of $21.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 0.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $163.25 million, a PE ratio of 10.15 and a beta of 0.19.

SB Financial Group (NASDAQ:SBFG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $17.42 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.60 million. SB Financial Group had a return on equity of 11.52% and a net margin of 17.22%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that SB Financial Group will post 2.53 EPS for the current year.

SB Financial Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th were paid a dividend of $0.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 15th. This is a positive change from SB Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. SB Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is 25.00%.

SB Financial Group Company Profile

SB Financial Group, Inc (NASDAQ: SBFG) is the bank holding company for Star Financial Bank, a full-service community bank headquartered in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Through its wholly owned subsidiary, the company offers a broad portfolio of commercial and consumer banking products, including deposit accounts, lending solutions, mortgage origination and servicing, and cash management services.

In its commercial banking division, SB Financial Group provides working capital loans, equipment financing, commercial real estate lending and treasury management solutions designed for small- and mid-sized businesses.