Short Interest in TriCo Bancshares (NASDAQ:TCBK) Rises By 23.3%

TriCo Bancshares (NASDAQ:TCBK) saw a large growth in short interest in December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 283,600 shares, a growth of 23.3% from the November 30th total of 230,100 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 113,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.5 days.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Cory W. Giese sold 5,100 shares of TriCo Bancshares stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.47, for a total transaction of $252,297.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 6,128 shares in the company, valued at approximately $303,152.16. The trade was a 45.42 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 4.64% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of TriCo Bancshares

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in TCBK. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in TriCo Bancshares by 6.1% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 446,455 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $19,041,000 after acquiring an additional 25,817 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of TriCo Bancshares by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 781,650 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $33,344,000 after purchasing an additional 5,155 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in shares of TriCo Bancshares by 127.0% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 57,879 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,468,000 after purchasing an additional 32,379 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in shares of TriCo Bancshares during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $259,000. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp raised its holdings in TriCo Bancshares by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 48,031 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,049,000 after buying an additional 1,013 shares during the period. 59.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

TCBK has been the topic of several research analyst reports. DA Davidson downgraded TriCo Bancshares from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $50.00 to $53.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on TriCo Bancshares from $53.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Stephens dropped their price target on TriCo Bancshares from $52.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $48.20.

TriCo Bancshares Price Performance

NASDAQ:TCBK opened at $43.52 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.95 and a beta of 0.56. The business’s 50-day moving average is $46.39 and its 200 day moving average is $43.78. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. TriCo Bancshares has a 12 month low of $31.73 and a 12 month high of $51.06.

TriCo Bancshares (NASDAQ:TCBK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.06. TriCo Bancshares had a return on equity of 9.45% and a net margin of 21.12%. The business had revenue of $133.84 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $98.65 million. On average, equities research analysts forecast that TriCo Bancshares will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

TriCo Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th were paid a $0.33 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.03%. TriCo Bancshares’s payout ratio is currently 39.29%.

TriCo Bancshares Company Profile

TriCo Bancshares operates as a bank holding company for Tri Counties Bank that provides commercial banking services to individual and corporate customers. The company accepts demand, savings, and time deposits. It also provides small business loans; real estate mortgage loans, such as residential and commercial loans; consumer loans; mortgage, auto, other vehicle, and personal loans; commercial loans, including agricultural loans; and real estate construction loans.