Union Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:UNB) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Union Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:UNB) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 35,700 shares, an increase of 183.3% from the December 15th total of 12,600 shares. Approximately 1.0% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 8,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.2 days.

Institutional Trading of Union Bankshares

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in UNB. Community Financial Services Group LLC acquired a new stake in Union Bankshares during the 3rd quarter valued at $220,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its stake in shares of Union Bankshares by 7.7% during the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 14,032 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $301,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Union Bankshares by 10.4% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 30,924 shares of the bank’s stock worth $664,000 after acquiring an additional 2,914 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Union Bankshares by 3.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 40,503 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,050,000 after acquiring an additional 1,188 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cardinal Capital Management lifted its stake in shares of Union Bankshares by 15.1% in the third quarter. Cardinal Capital Management now owns 74,413 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,930,000 after acquiring an additional 9,784 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 14.84% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com cut Union Bankshares from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday.

Union Bankshares Stock Up 1.0 %

Union Bankshares stock traded up $0.28 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $29.40. 3,875 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,805. Union Bankshares has a 52-week low of $21.00 and a 52-week high of $37.70. The firm has a market cap of $133.04 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.08 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.83. The company’s 50-day moving average is $31.58 and its two-hundred day moving average is $27.55.

Union Bankshares (NASDAQ:UNB) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The bank reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter. Union Bankshares had a return on equity of 13.14% and a net margin of 11.74%.

Union Bankshares Company Profile

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.