Stellarone Corp (NYSE:STEL) Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.15

Stellarone Corp (NYSE:STEL) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be paid a dividend of 0.15 per share by the financial services provider on Friday, June 26th. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th.

Stellarone has raised its dividend payment by an average of 0.1%per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 1 years. Stellarone has a payout ratio of 30.9% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Stellarone to earn $2.35 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.60 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 25.5%.

Stellarone Stock Performance

Shares of STEL stock opened at $37.41 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.25 and a beta of 0.72. The business’s 50 day moving average is $36.84 and its two-hundred day moving average is $34.69. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. Stellarone has a 12-month low of $26.08 and a 12-month high of $40.21.

Stellarone (NYSE:STEL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The financial services provider reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $111.04 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $108.41 million. Stellarone had a return on equity of 6.54% and a net margin of 17.56%.Stellarone’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.46 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Stellarone will post 2.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Stellarone

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in STEL. North Reef Capital Management LP raised its position in Stellarone by 57.1% in the fourth quarter. North Reef Capital Management LP now owns 2,875,245 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $88,960,000 after purchasing an additional 1,045,308 shares during the period. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Stellarone in the first quarter valued at $19,477,000. Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Stellarone by 34.6% in the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,237,830 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,556,000 after buying an additional 318,011 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in shares of Stellarone by 23,465.2% in the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 312,474 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,667,000 after buying an additional 311,148 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in shares of Stellarone by 126.9% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 325,715 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $11,924,000 after buying an additional 182,184 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 54.15% of the company’s stock.

About Stellarone

StellarOne Corporation is a bank holding company of StellarOne Bank (the Bank). The Bank is an independent commercial bank holding company. It offers services provided by full-service banks, including individual and commercial demand and time deposit accounts, commercial and consumer loans, residential mortgages, credit card services and deposit services. The Bank, through its commercial banking segment, offers Internet banking access for banking services, mobile banking and online bill payment for both consumers and commercial customers.