Short Interest in BayFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:BAFN) Expands By 78.0%

BayFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:BAFN) was the target of a significant increase in short interest during the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 17,800 shares, an increase of 78.0% from the September 15th total of 10,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 6,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.7 days. Approximately 0.5% of the company’s stock are short sold.

BayFirst Financial Stock Down 1.0 %

NASDAQ:BAFN opened at $12.62 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $13.29 and a 200 day simple moving average of $12.67. BayFirst Financial has a one year low of $8.88 and a one year high of $14.50. The company has a market capitalization of $52.18 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.17 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 1.01.

BayFirst Financial (NASDAQ:BAFN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $0.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The business had revenue of $20.84 million for the quarter. BayFirst Financial had a return on equity of 6.38% and a net margin of 4.01%.

BayFirst Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 15th. Investors of record on Sunday, September 1st were issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 30th. BayFirst Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.32%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BayFirst Financial

A hedge fund recently raised its stake in BayFirst Financial stock. Kennedy Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of BayFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:BAFN) by 28.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 35,425 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,774 shares during the period. Kennedy Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.86% of BayFirst Financial worth $459,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 16.88% of the company’s stock.

About BayFirst Financial

BayFirst Financial Corp. operates as the bank holding company for BayFirst National Bank that provides community banking services for businesses and individuals. The company offers checking, savings, NOW, and money market deposit accounts, as well as certificates of deposit and individual retirement account; and safety deposit boxes.