Short Interest in SB Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SBFG) Drops By 37.1%

SB Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SBFG) saw a large decrease in short interest in the month of July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totaling 23,329 shares, a decrease of 37.1% from the June 30th total of 37,080 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 31,114 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.7 days. Currently, 0.4% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On SB Financial Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SBFG. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of SB Financial Group by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 66,689 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,485,000 after purchasing an additional 2,926 shares during the period. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in SB Financial Group by 7.8% in the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 34,053 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $758,000 after purchasing an additional 2,458 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its holdings in SB Financial Group by 12.9% in the third quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 31,001 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $598,000 after purchasing an additional 3,542 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP bought a new position in SB Financial Group during the 2nd quarter worth $384,000. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. bought a new position in SB Financial Group during the 1st quarter worth $350,000. 66.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of SB Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of SB Financial Group in a research note on Friday, June 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, SB Financial Group has an average rating of “Moderate Buy”.

SB Financial Group Price Performance

SB Financial Group stock opened at $26.60 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $24.28 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $22.42. SB Financial Group has a 12 month low of $18.16 and a 12 month high of $27.68. The company has a market capitalization of $167.05 million, a PE ratio of 9.93 and a beta of 0.19. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

SB Financial Group (NASDAQ:SBFG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.73 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.04. SB Financial Group had a return on equity of 11.95% and a net margin of 17.67%.The company had revenue of $18.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.70 million. Analysts expect that SB Financial Group will post 2.53 EPS for the current year.

SB Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 28th. Investors of record on Friday, August 14th will be given a dividend of $0.16 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 14th. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. SB Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.88%.

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.