StockNews.com Upgrades Colony Bankcorp (NASDAQ:CBAN) to Buy

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Colony Bankcorp (NASDAQ:CBAN) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Thursday morning.

Colony Bankcorp Stock Performance

Shares of CBAN opened at $14.66 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $256.95 million, a PE ratio of 11.73 and a beta of 0.62. Colony Bankcorp has a 12-month low of $10.33 and a 12-month high of $18.49. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $16.77 and its 200 day moving average price is $15.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.80.

Colony Bankcorp (NASDAQ:CBAN) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $44.69 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $28.67 million. Colony Bankcorp had a return on equity of 8.86% and a net margin of 12.75%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.34 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Colony Bankcorp will post 1.38 EPS for the current year.

Colony Bankcorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 6th were given a dividend of $0.112 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 6th. This represents a $0.45 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.06%. Colony Bankcorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.00%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CBAN. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of Colony Bankcorp by 137.0% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 28,103 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $436,000 after purchasing an additional 16,246 shares during the period. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in Colony Bankcorp by 49.5% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 54,484 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $845,000 after buying an additional 18,048 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Colony Bankcorp by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 363,547 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,643,000 after acquiring an additional 7,740 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in Colony Bankcorp by 7.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 253,507 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,934,000 after acquiring an additional 17,865 shares during the period. Finally, Martingale Asset Management L P raised its stake in Colony Bankcorp by 38.2% during the 3rd quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P now owns 47,490 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $737,000 after acquiring an additional 13,119 shares in the last quarter. 50.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Colony Bankcorp

Colony Bankcorp, Inc operates as the bank holding company for Colony Bank that provides various banking products and services to commercial and consumer customers. The company offers deposit products, including demand, savings, and time deposits. It also provides loans to small and medium-sized businesses; residential and commercial construction, and land development loans; commercial real estate loans; commercial loans; agri-business and production loans; residential mortgage loans; home equity loans; and consumer loans.