SB Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SBFG) Short Interest Up 3,342.1% in January

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

SB Financial Group Stock Up 3.2 %

SB Financial Group stock opened at $21.95 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $145.97 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.61 and a beta of 0.77. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $21.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $19.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.91. SB Financial Group has a fifty-two week low of $13.01 and a fifty-two week high of $23.00.

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

SB Financial Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $0.145 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $0.58 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.64%. SB Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 33.33%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On SB Financial Group

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its position in SB Financial Group by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 39,637 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $829,000 after acquiring an additional 1,875 shares in the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of SB Financial Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $408,000. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in shares of SB Financial Group by 325.1% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of 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 worth $1,462,000 after buying an additional 2,416 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.67% of the company’s stock.

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.