FS Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSBW) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

FS Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSBW) saw a large growth in short interest in June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 22,000 shares, a growth of 27.2% from the May 31st total of 17,300 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 11,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.9 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com cut FS Bancorp from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On FS Bancorp

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. TCW Group Inc. grew its holdings in FS Bancorp by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 284,519 shares of the bank’s stock worth $10,516,000 after purchasing an additional 2,540 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of FS Bancorp by 5.2% during the third quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 7,862 shares of the bank’s stock worth $232,000 after acquiring an additional 389 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its holdings in shares of FS Bancorp by 45.2% during the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 10,120 shares of the bank’s stock worth $374,000 after acquiring an additional 3,152 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of FS Bancorp during the fourth quarter worth approximately $119,000. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of FS Bancorp by 9.6% during the fourth quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 16,338 shares of the bank’s stock worth $604,000 after acquiring an additional 1,436 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 63.88% of the company’s stock.

FS Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FSBW opened at $34.94 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $272.39 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.63 and a beta of 0.94. The business has a 50-day moving average of $32.88 and a 200-day moving average of $33.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.01. FS Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $28.07 and a fifty-two week high of $38.70.

FS Bancorp (NASDAQ:FSBW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The bank reported $1.06 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.08. FS Bancorp had a return on equity of 14.17% and a net margin of 18.69%. The business had revenue of $35.46 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.05 million. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that FS Bancorp will post 4.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FS Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, May 9th were issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.98%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 8th. FS Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 22.71%.

FS Bancorp Company Profile

FS Bancorp, Inc operates as a bank holding company for 1st Security Bank of Washington that provides banking and financial services to local families, local and regional businesses, and industry niches. The company operates in two segments, Commercial and Consumer Banking; and Home Lending. It offers various deposit instruments, including checking accounts, money market deposit accounts, savings accounts, and certificates of deposit.