Short Interest in Capital City Bank Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCBG) Grows By 68.8%

Capital City Bank Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCBG) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 73,100 shares, a growth of 68.8% from the February 28th total of 43,300 shares. Approximately 0.5% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 26,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.8 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on CCBG. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Capital City Bank Group from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Capital City Bank Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th.

Capital City Bank Group Stock Performance

CCBG traded down $0.76 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $35.85. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 15,242 shares, compared to its average volume of 29,852. The company’s 50-day moving average is $36.51 and its 200-day moving average is $36.42. Capital City Bank Group has a 52 week low of $25.45 and a 52 week high of $40.86. The firm has a market cap of $611.39 million, a PE ratio of 11.49 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.84.

Capital City Bank Group (NASDAQ:CCBG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The financial services provider reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.07. Capital City Bank Group had a net margin of 19.55% and a return on equity of 11.45%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Capital City Bank Group will post 3.06 EPS for the current year.

Capital City Bank Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This is an increase from Capital City Bank Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.68%. Capital City Bank Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.77%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Capital City Bank Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CCBG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Capital City Bank Group by 80.1% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 87,396 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,084,000 after purchasing an additional 38,876 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Capital City Bank Group by 48.5% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,630 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $234,000 after acquiring an additional 2,164 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of Capital City Bank Group by 15.4% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,838 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $171,000 after acquiring an additional 645 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its stake in shares of Capital City Bank Group by 46.8% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 53,402 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,883,000 after acquiring an additional 17,022 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp increased its position in Capital City Bank Group by 1.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 341,426 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $12,049,000 after acquiring an additional 5,980 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 44.59% of the company’s stock.

Capital City Bank Group Company Profile

Capital City Bank Group, Inc operates as the financial holding company for Capital City Bank that provides a range of banking- related services to individual and corporate clients. The company offers financing for commercial business properties, equipment, inventories, and accounts receivable, as well as commercial leasing and letters of credit; treasury management services; and merchant credit card transaction processing services.