Western New England Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:WNEB) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Western New England Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:WNEB) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 60,800 shares, a growth of 19.7% from the February 13th total of 50,800 shares. Currently, 0.3% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 54,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.1 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Barclays PLC raised its position in Western New England Bancorp by 23.8% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 44,422 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $378,000 after purchasing an additional 8,532 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in Western New England Bancorp by 5.3% during the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 79,545 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $676,000 after purchasing an additional 4,020 shares in the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in Western New England Bancorp during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $120,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its position in Western New England Bancorp by 16.9% during the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 82,605 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $702,000 after purchasing an additional 11,936 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fourthstone LLC raised its position in Western New England Bancorp by 372.5% during the third quarter. Fourthstone LLC now owns 769,807 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,543,000 after purchasing an additional 606,897 shares in the last quarter. 67.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Western New England Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th.

Western New England Bancorp Stock Up 1.0 %

NASDAQ WNEB opened at $9.05 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. Western New England Bancorp has a 1-year low of $6.00 and a 1-year high of $10.08. The company has a 50 day moving average of $9.23 and a 200-day moving average of $9.05. The company has a market cap of $187.77 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.16 and a beta of 0.71.

Western New England Bancorp (NASDAQ:WNEB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The financial services provider reported $0.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.12 by $0.04. Western New England Bancorp had a net margin of 9.51% and a return on equity of 4.91%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.12 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Western New England Bancorp will post 0.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western New England Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 12th were given a dividend of $0.07 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 12th. This represents a $0.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.09%. Western New England Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.00%.

About Western New England Bancorp

Western New England Bancorp, Inc operates as the holding company for Westfield Bank that provides a range of commercial and retail banking products and services to individuals and businesses. The company accepts various deposit accounts, including interest-bearing and noninterest-bearing checking, commercial checking, business, nonprofit and municipal checking, savings, money market and sweep, individual retirement, and other savings accounts; time deposits; certificates of deposit; and interest on lawyer's trust accounts.