Short Interest in Plumas Bancorp (NASDAQ:PLBC) Rises By 38.2%

Plumas Bancorp (NASDAQ:PLBC) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 61,500 shares, a growth of 38.2% from the January 31st total of 44,500 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 10,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 6.0 days. Approximately 1.2% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Insider Activity at Plumas Bancorp

In related news, Director Michael Kevin Foster bought 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was bought at an average price of $45.67 per share, with a total value of $45,670.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 1,000 shares in the company, valued at $45,670. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 9.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Plumas Bancorp

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in shares of Plumas Bancorp by 5.8% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 170,526 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,954,000 after buying an additional 9,328 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its holdings in Plumas Bancorp by 533.8% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 5,863 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $239,000 after acquiring an additional 4,938 shares in the last quarter. De Lisle Partners LLP increased its position in shares of Plumas Bancorp by 61.5% in the 3rd quarter. De Lisle Partners LLP now owns 149,779 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,068,000 after purchasing an additional 57,051 shares during the last quarter. Fourthstone LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Plumas Bancorp in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $521,000. Finally, State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Plumas Bancorp by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 68,879 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,809,000 after purchasing an additional 2,526 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 41.68% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on PLBC shares. Stephens started coverage on shares of Plumas Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $60.00 price objective for the company. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and set a $54.00 price target (up from $49.00) on shares of Plumas Bancorp in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler started coverage on Plumas Bancorp in a research note on Thursday. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $60.00 price objective for the company.

Plumas Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of PLBC traded down $1.42 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $44.54. 10,838 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 10,246. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $45.94 and its 200-day moving average is $44.17. Plumas Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $32.50 and a fifty-two week high of $51.33. The company has a market cap of $262.65 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.30 and a beta of 0.70.

Plumas Bancorp (NASDAQ:PLBC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15 by $0.14. Plumas Bancorp had a net margin of 30.74% and a return on equity of 16.88%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Plumas Bancorp will post 4.51 EPS for the current year.

Plumas Bancorp Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 17th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.69%. This is a boost from Plumas Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. Plumas Bancorp’s payout ratio is presently 25.05%.

About Plumas Bancorp

Plumas Bancorp operates as the bank holding company for the Plumas Bank that provides various banking products and services for small and middle market businesses, and individuals in Northeastern California and Northwestern Nevada. The company accepts various deposits, such as checking, money market checking, business sweep, public funds sweep, savings, time deposit, and retirement accounts.