CNB Financial Co. (NASDAQ:CCNE) Short Interest Down 21.5% in August

CNB Financial Co. (NASDAQ:CCNE) saw a significant drop in short interest in the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 82,300 shares, a drop of 21.5% from the August 15th total of 104,800 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 43,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.9 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CNB Financial

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Petiole USA ltd raised its stake in CNB Financial by 148.3% during the fourth quarter. Petiole USA ltd now owns 168,241 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,801,000 after acquiring an additional 100,471 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in CNB Financial by 16.7% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 357,127 shares of the bank’s stock worth $7,289,000 after buying an additional 51,080 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in CNB Financial by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 871,822 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $19,695,000 after purchasing an additional 42,908 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of CNB Financial by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,052,624 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $21,463,000 after buying an additional 15,870 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its holdings in CNB Financial by 73.9% during the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 29,632 shares of the bank’s stock worth $604,000 after purchasing an additional 12,589 shares during the last quarter. 52.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com cut CNB Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st.

CNB Financial Stock Performance

CCNE stock traded down $0.02 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $24.45. The stock had a trading volume of 62,935 shares, compared to its average volume of 45,109. CNB Financial has a fifty-two week low of $17.45 and a fifty-two week high of $26.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $513.55 million, a PE ratio of 10.27 and a beta of 0.69. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $23.49 and a 200 day simple moving average of $20.97.

CNB Financial (NASDAQ:CCNE) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The bank reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.05. CNB Financial had a return on equity of 10.37% and a net margin of 15.30%. The company had revenue of $89.52 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.30 million. Analysts predict that CNB Financial will post 2.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CNB Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 30th were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.94%. This is an increase from CNB Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 30th. CNB Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.25%.

About CNB Financial

CNB Financial Corporation operates as the bank holding company for CNB Bank that provides a range of banking products and services for individual, business, governmental, and institutional customers. The company accepts checking, savings, and time deposit accounts; and offers real estate, commercial, industrial, residential, and consumer loans, as well as various other specialized financial services.