SB Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SBFG) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

SB Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SBFG) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 130,800 shares, an increase of 3,342.1% from the December 31st total of 3,800 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 20,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 6.4 days. Currently, 2.2% of the company’s shares are sold short.

SB Financial Group Trading Up 3.0 %

NASDAQ:SBFG traded up $0.65 on Tuesday, reaching $21.92. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 8,480 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,246. SB Financial Group has a 1-year low of $13.01 and a 1-year high of $23.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.92. The firm has a market cap of $145.78 million, a PE ratio of 12.59 and a beta of 0.77. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $21.13 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $18.95.

SB Financial Group (NASDAQ:SBFG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.11. SB Financial Group had a return on equity of 9.42% and a net margin of 14.53%. Equities research analysts anticipate that SB Financial Group will post 1.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SB Financial Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.145 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $0.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.65%. SB Financial Group’s payout ratio is presently 33.72%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Barclays PLC boosted its position in SB Financial Group by 325.1% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,271 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 972 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in SB Financial Group by 5.2% during the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 37,762 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $776,000 after purchasing an additional 1,876 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in SB Financial Group by 3.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 71,076 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,462,000 after purchasing an additional 2,416 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ritholtz Wealth Management acquired a new position in SB Financial Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $408,000. 66.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About SB Financial Group

SB Financial Group, Inc operates as the financial holding company for the State Bank and Trust Company that provides a range of commercial banking and wealth management services to individual and corporate customers primarily in Ohio, Indiana, and Michigan. It offers checking, savings, money market accounts, as well as time certificates of deposit; and commercial, consumer, agricultural, and residential mortgage loans.