Short Interest in FS Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSBW) Rises By 5.4%

by · The Cerbat Gem

FS Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSBW – Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest during the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 41,000 shares, a growth of 5.4% from the September 30th total of 38,900 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 17,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.3 days.

FS Bancorp Trading Down 1.2 %

NASDAQ FSBW traded down $0.53 on Thursday, reaching $44.97. The company had a trading volume of 8,016 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,107. The business has a 50 day moving average of $43.82 and a two-hundred day moving average of $38.47. FS Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $28.07 and a fifty-two week high of $47.01. The firm has a market cap of $350.59 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.82 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 1.06.

FS Bancorp (NASDAQ:FSBW – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The bank reported $1.29 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.15. FS Bancorp had a net margin of 18.28% and a return on equity of 13.58%. The company had revenue of $53.01 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $37.10 million. Analysts forecast that FS Bancorp will post 4.44 EPS for the current year.

FS Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 7th will be paid a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 7th. FS Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.58%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FSBW. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its holdings in FS Bancorp by 25.6% in the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 12,710 shares of the bank’s stock worth $441,000 after buying an additional 2,590 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in FS Bancorp by 8.1% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 30,437 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,056,000 after purchasing an additional 2,275 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in FS Bancorp by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 403,704 shares of the bank’s stock worth $14,013,000 after purchasing an additional 2,376 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in FS Bancorp by 4.3% during the 1st quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 7,734 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $268,000 after buying an additional 320 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of FS Bancorp by 64.5% in the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 2,288 shares of the bank’s stock worth $79,000 after purchasing an additional 897 shares during the period. 63.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FSBW has been the topic of a number of research reports. DA Davidson upped their price objective on FS Bancorp from $34.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. StockNews.com cut shares of FS Bancorp from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd.

Check Out Our Latest Analysis on FS Bancorp

About FS Bancorp

(Get Free Report)

FS Bancorp, Inc operates as a bank holding company for 1st Security Bank of Washington that provides banking and financial services to local families, local and regional businesses, and industry niches. The company operates in two segments, Commercial and Consumer Banking; and Home Lending. It offers various deposit instruments, including checking accounts, money market deposit accounts, savings accounts, and certificates of deposit.

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