Short Interest in Western New England Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:WNEB) Grows By 61.1%

Western New England Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:WNEB) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 67,000 shares, an increase of 61.1% from the November 15th total of 41,600 shares. Currently, 0.4% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 36,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.8 days.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Western New England Bancorp news, SVP Darlene M. Libiszewski sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.18, for a total value of $45,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 16,020 shares in the company, valued at $147,063.60. This represents a 23.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 5.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Western New England Bancorp

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its stake in Western New England Bancorp by 2.8% during the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,200,362 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,258,000 after purchasing an additional 32,700 shares in the last quarter. Fourthstone LLC raised its stake in Western New England Bancorp by 372.5% during the third quarter. Fourthstone LLC now owns 769,807 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,543,000 after purchasing an additional 606,897 shares in the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Western New England Bancorp by 7.1% during the second quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 425,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,924,000 after purchasing an additional 28,000 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Western New England Bancorp by 16.6% during the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 401,909 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,762,000 after purchasing an additional 57,099 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its stake in Western New England Bancorp by 16.9% during the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 82,605 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $702,000 after purchasing an additional 11,936 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.95% of the company’s stock.

Western New England Bancorp Price Performance

WNEB stock opened at $9.71 on Thursday. Western New England Bancorp has a one year low of $6.00 and a one year high of $9.76. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $8.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $8.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.95. The company has a market capitalization of $204.10 million, a PE ratio of 18.67 and a beta of 0.69.

Western New England Bancorp (NASDAQ:WNEB) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.09 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.10 by ($0.01). Western New England Bancorp had a return on equity of 4.58% and a net margin of 9.05%. The company had revenue of $30.98 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.39 million. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Western New England Bancorp will post 0.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western New England Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, November 7th were paid a dividend of $0.07 per share. This represents a $0.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 7th. Western New England Bancorp’s payout ratio is 53.85%.

Western New England Bancorp Company Profile

Western New England Bancorp, Inc operates as the holding company for Westfield Bank that provides a range of commercial and retail banking products and services to individuals and businesses. The company accepts various deposit accounts, including interest-bearing and noninterest-bearing checking, commercial checking, business, nonprofit and municipal checking, savings, money market and sweep, individual retirement, and other savings accounts; time deposits; certificates of deposit; and interest on lawyer's trust accounts.