KBC Group NV (OTCMKTS:KBCSY) Short Interest Update

KBC Group NV (OTCMKTS:KBCSY) saw a large decrease in short interest in the month of May. As of May 31st, there was short interest totalling 4,300 shares, a decrease of 40.3% from the May 15th total of 7,200 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 116,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.0 days. Approximately 0.0% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of KBC Group in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating on shares of KBC Group in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating on shares of KBC Group in a report on Monday, May 19th.

KBC Group Trading Down 1.9%

Shares of OTCMKTS:KBCSY traded down $0.95 during trading on Monday, hitting $48.29. 20,542 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 39,613. KBC Group has a 52 week low of $33.98 and a 52 week high of $50.51. The company has a market cap of $40.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $47.15 and a 200-day moving average price of $43.08.

KBC Group (OTCMKTS:KBCSY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 15th. The company reported $0.69 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.66 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $2.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.03 billion. KBC Group had a return on equity of 14.40% and a net margin of 13.32%. On average, analysts predict that KBC Group will post 4.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KBC Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 8th were paid a $1.1873 dividend. This represents a yield of 3.77%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 7th. This is a boost from KBC Group’s previous dividend of $0.33. KBC Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.43%.

About KBC Group

KBC Group NV, together with its subsidiaries, provides integrated bank-insurance services primarily for retail, private banking, small and medium sized enterprises, and mid-cap clients. The company offers demand deposits and savings accounts; home and mortgage loans; consumer finance and SME funding services; credit, investment fund and asset management, and life and non-life insurance; and cash management, payments, trade finance, lease, money market, capital market products, and stockbroking services.