Camden National Co. (NASDAQ:CAC) Short Interest Up 7.2% in October

Camden National Co. (NASDAQ:CAC) saw a significant growth in short interest during the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 621,500 shares, a growth of 7.2% from the September 30th total of 579,900 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 57,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 10.9 days. Approximately 4.4% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Camden National Trading Down 1.1 %

NASDAQ:CAC opened at $41.95 on Friday. Camden National has a 12 month low of $28.00 and a 12 month high of $43.75. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $611.21 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.11 and a beta of 0.72. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $40.08 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $35.98.

Camden National (NASDAQ:CAC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.71 by $0.10. Camden National had a return on equity of 10.09% and a net margin of 16.47%. The business had revenue of $72.81 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $41.07 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.85 EPS. Analysts expect that Camden National will post 3.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Camden National Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 15th were given a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 15th. Camden National’s payout ratio is currently 52.50%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Camden National

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its holdings in Camden National by 89.3% during the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 7,060 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $237,000 after acquiring an additional 3,330 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC raised its stake in Camden National by 2,990.3% in the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 38,567 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,293,000 after purchasing an additional 37,319 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its position in Camden National by 7.9% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 33,496 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,123,000 after purchasing an additional 2,450 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its stake in Camden National by 13.2% in the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 239,468 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,027,000 after buying an additional 28,007 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in shares of Camden National by 43.2% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 16,271 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $546,000 after buying an additional 4,907 shares during the last quarter. 77.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on CAC. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Camden National in a research note on Thursday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Camden National from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. Finally, Stephens increased their target price on shares of Camden National from $35.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd.

About Camden National

Camden National Corporation operates as the bank holding company for Camden National Bank that provides various commercial and consumer banking products and services for consumer, institutional, municipal, non-profit, and commercial customers in Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts. The company accepts checking, savings, time, and brokered deposits, as well as deposits with the certificate of deposit account registry system.