Short Interest in Timberland Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSBK) Rises By 47.6%

Timberland Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSBK) was the target of a large increase in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 21,400 shares, an increase of 47.6% from the February 13th total of 14,500 shares. Approximately 0.3% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 11,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.8 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Timberland Bancorp

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Timberland Bancorp by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 168,813 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $5,151,000 after purchasing an additional 435 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its holdings in shares of Timberland Bancorp by 158.1% during the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,053 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 645 shares during the period. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Timberland Bancorp by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 142,706 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $4,354,000 after purchasing an additional 705 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in shares of Timberland Bancorp by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 51,572 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $1,573,000 after purchasing an additional 950 shares during the period. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company MN grew its holdings in shares of Timberland Bancorp by 16.1% during the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 6,959 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $212,000 after purchasing an additional 964 shares during the period. 65.49% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Timberland Bancorp Price Performance

NASDAQ TSBK traded up $0.69 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $30.11. The stock had a trading volume of 17,110 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,130. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $30.07 and its 200 day moving average is $30.68. Timberland Bancorp has a twelve month low of $23.93 and a twelve month high of $33.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $239.56 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.74 and a beta of 0.59.

Timberland Bancorp (NASDAQ:TSBK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The savings and loans company reported $0.86 EPS for the quarter. Timberland Bancorp had a return on equity of 10.20% and a net margin of 22.88%.

Timberland Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. Timberland Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 32.36%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded Timberland Bancorp from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st.

Timberland Bancorp Company Profile

Timberland Bancorp, Inc operates as the bank holding company for Timberland Bank that provides various community banking services in Washington. It offers various deposit products, including money market deposit, checking, and regular savings accounts, as well as certificates of deposit. The company also provides one-to four-family residential, multi-family, and commercial real estate loans; and construction lending products, such as custom and owner/builder, speculative one- to four-family, commercial, multi-family, land development, and land development.