Short Interest in Sound Financial Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFBC) Declines By 16.0%

Sound Financial Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFBC) was the target of a significant drop in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,100 shares, a drop of 16.0% from the November 30th total of 2,500 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.3 days. Approximately 0.1% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Insider Activity at Sound Financial Bancorp

In related news, Director James E. Sweeney sold 592 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.57, for a total transaction of $31,121.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 2,942 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $154,660.94. This trade represents a 16.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders have sold 1,026 shares of company stock worth $54,446 over the last quarter. 12.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SFBC. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Sound Financial Bancorp by 10.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,095 shares of the bank’s stock worth $273,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Sound Financial Bancorp by 7.2% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 16,811 shares of the bank’s stock worth $739,000 after purchasing an additional 1,122 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Sound Financial Bancorp by 6.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 23,885 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,278,000 after purchasing an additional 1,407 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arcus Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Sound Financial Bancorp in the 3rd quarter valued at $503,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.85% of the company’s stock.

Sound Financial Bancorp Price Performance

NASDAQ SFBC traded up $2.31 on Monday, reaching $54.95. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,499 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,741. Sound Financial Bancorp has a twelve month low of $39.00 and a twelve month high of $55.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.12. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $53.83 and its two-hundred day moving average is $49.97. The stock has a market cap of $140.89 million, a PE ratio of 35.92 and a beta of 0.68.

Sound Financial Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 26th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 12th were paid a dividend of $0.19 per share. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 12th. Sound Financial Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 49.67%.

Sound Financial Bancorp Company Profile

Sound Financial Bancorp, Inc operates as the bank holding company for Sound Community Bank that provides banking and other financial services for consumers and businesses. It accepts various deposits products comprising savings, money market deposit, NOW, and demand accounts, as well as certificates of deposit.