Short Interest in National Bank Holdings Co. (NYSE:NBHC) Declines By 17.3%

National Bank Holdings Co. (NYSE:NBHC) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 571,100 shares, a decline of 17.3% from the February 13th total of 690,900 shares. Currently, 1.6% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 199,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.9 days.

National Bank Price Performance

Shares of NBHC traded up $0.17 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $39.89. 217,051 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 197,575. The stock has a market cap of $1.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.91 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 0.95. National Bank has a 1-year low of $32.13 and a 1-year high of $51.76. The company has a 50 day moving average of $42.08 and a 200-day moving average of $43.57.

National Bank (NYSE:NBHC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.07. National Bank had a net margin of 19.82% and a return on equity of 9.76%. Analysts expect that National Bank will post 3.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

National Bank Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were given a dividend of $0.29 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.91%. National Bank’s payout ratio is currently 37.54%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On National Bank

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in NBHC. Assetmark Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of National Bank during the 3rd quarter worth $71,000. Atria Investments Inc acquired a new stake in National Bank during the 3rd quarter worth $202,000. Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in National Bank by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 122,894 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,174,000 after acquiring an additional 6,164 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its stake in National Bank by 17.6% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 35,068 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,476,000 after purchasing an additional 5,252 shares during the period. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC increased its stake in National Bank by 115.6% in the third quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 17,602 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $741,000 after purchasing an additional 9,438 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.65% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on NBHC shares. StockNews.com downgraded National Bank from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of National Bank from $47.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, National Bank has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $51.40.

National Bank Company Profile

National Bank Holdings Corporation operates as the bank holding company for NBH Bank that provides various banking products and financial services to commercial, business, and consumer clients in the United States. It offers deposit products, including checking, savings, money market, and other deposit accounts, including fixed-rate and fixed maturity time deposits.