Short Interest in Sound Financial Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFBC) Expands By 14.7%

Sound Financial Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFBC) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest during the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totaling 83,058 shares, an increase of 14.7% from the March 31st total of 72,430 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 5,345 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 15.5 days. Currently, 3.7% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sound Financial Bancorp

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Sound Financial Bancorp by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 4,402 shares of the bank’s stock worth $192,000 after acquiring an additional 354 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Sound Financial Bancorp by 64.1% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,667 shares of the bank’s stock worth $77,000 after acquiring an additional 651 shares during the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN increased its stake in Sound Financial Bancorp by 40.6% in the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 2,628 shares of the bank’s stock worth $115,000 after buying an additional 759 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in Sound Financial Bancorp by 168.3% in the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,387 shares of the bank’s stock worth $61,000 after buying an additional 870 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in Sound Financial Bancorp by 4,863.2% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 943 shares of the bank’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 924 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 68.85% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Sound Financial Bancorp from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Sound Financial Bancorp to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to MarketBeat.com, Sound Financial Bancorp has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

Sound Financial Bancorp Price Performance

Sound Financial Bancorp stock opened at $41.15 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $42.99 and a 200-day moving average price of $43.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $105.76 million, a PE ratio of 14.04 and a beta of 0.05. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Sound Financial Bancorp has a 12-month low of $40.68 and a 12-month high of $51.70.

Sound Financial Bancorp (NASDAQ:SFBC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The bank reported $0.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $9.96 million during the quarter. Sound Financial Bancorp had a net margin of 12.19% and a return on equity of 7.03%.

Sound Financial Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 11th will be issued a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 11th. Sound Financial Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.67%.

About Sound Financial Bancorp

Sound Financial Bancorp, Inc is a bank holding company and the parent of Sound Community Bank, a community‐oriented financial institution headquartered in University Place, Washington. Through its subsidiary, the company delivers a broad array of banking and financial services to individuals, small businesses and commercial clients throughout the Puget Sound region. Emphasizing relationship banking, Sound Financial Bancorp seeks to support local economic development by offering personalized service and community engagement.

The company’s core offerings include deposit products such as checking and savings accounts, money market accounts and certificates of deposit, as well as a full spectrum of lending solutions.