Union Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:UNB) Short Interest Update

Union Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:UNB) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 22,900 shares, a decrease of 29.5% from the February 28th total of 32,500 shares. Approximately 0.6% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 8,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.8 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Union Bankshares

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in UNB. 683 Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Union Bankshares during the fourth quarter worth approximately $304,000. Alpine Global Management LLC acquired a new position in Union Bankshares during the 4th quarter worth $269,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in Union Bankshares by 16.8% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 30,880 shares of the bank’s stock worth $893,000 after buying an additional 4,436 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its position in Union Bankshares by 13.2% in the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 18,708 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $541,000 after buying an additional 2,176 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cardinal Capital Management increased its stake in shares of Union Bankshares by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Cardinal Capital Management now owns 76,087 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,200,000 after buying an additional 1,674 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 14.84% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, StockNews.com raised Union Bankshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th.

Union Bankshares Trading Down 3.9 %

Shares of Union Bankshares stock opened at $31.72 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $143.53 million, a P/E ratio of 16.35 and a beta of 0.80. Union Bankshares has a 12-month low of $21.00 and a 12-month high of $37.70. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $30.82 and a 200 day simple moving average of $29.97.

Union Bankshares (NASDAQ:UNB) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The bank reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Union Bankshares had a net margin of 11.74% and a return on equity of 13.09%.

Union Bankshares Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 6th. Investors of record on Saturday, January 25th were issued a $0.36 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 24th. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.54%. Union Bankshares’s dividend payout ratio is 74.23%.

About Union Bankshares

Union Bankshares, Inc operates as the bank holding company for Union Bank that provides retail, commercial, and municipal banking products and services in northern Vermont and New Hampshire. It offers retail depository services, such as personal checking, savings, money market, IRA/SEP/KEOGH, and health savings accounts, as well as certificates of deposit.