USCB Financial (NASDAQ:USCB) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Estimates By $0.07 EPS

USCB Financial (NASDAQ:USCB) released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The company reported $0.44 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.07), Zacks reports. USCB Financial had a return on equity of 14.36% and a net margin of 20.23%.

USCB Financial Price Performance

USCB Financial stock traded up $0.10 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $20.48. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 50,304 shares, compared to its average volume of 30,200. USCB Financial has a twelve month low of $15.39 and a twelve month high of $20.79. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $18.64 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $17.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $370.89 million, a P/E ratio of 13.04 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24.

USCB Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 5th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.125 per share. This is a boost from USCB Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 17th. USCB Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.48%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director W Kirk Wycoff sold 82,043 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.56, for a total transaction of $1,522,718.08. Following the sale, the director directly owned 1,895,286 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $35,176,508.16. The trade was a 4.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 179,623 shares of company stock valued at $3,303,784. Insiders own 49.50% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On USCB Financial

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its holdings in USCB Financial by 66.2% during the 3rd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 2,217 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 883 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its holdings in shares of USCB Financial by 100.3% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 3,703 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,000 after acquiring an additional 1,854 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its position in shares of USCB Financial by 2,081.3% in the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 4,210 shares of the company’s stock valued at $70,000 after acquiring an additional 4,017 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP acquired a new position in USCB Financial in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $212,000. Finally, Fiduciary Trust Co acquired a new stake in USCB Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at $227,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 61.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on USCB shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of USCB Financial in a report on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research raised shares of USCB Financial from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and three have given a Buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, USCB Financial has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $22.00.

USCB Financial Company Profile

USCB Financial (NASDAQ: USCB) is a bank holding company headquartered in Columbia, South Carolina, serving as the parent company of United Security Bank. Established to support community banking in the Midlands region, the company focuses on relationship-driven financial services tailored to both individuals and businesses. As a regional player, USCB Financial emphasizes personalized service through a network of full-service branch offices.

The company’s core business activities include commercial and consumer lending, deposit products and alternative delivery channels.