ConnectOne Bancorp (NASDAQ:CNOB) Hits New 1-Year High – Here’s Why

ConnectOne Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:CNOB) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $32.38 and last traded at $31.95, with a volume of 460658 shares. The stock had previously closed at $31.70.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on CNOB shares. Weiss Ratings raised shares of ConnectOne Bancorp from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Hovde Group upped their price objective on shares of ConnectOne Bancorp from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and set a $34.00 price objective on shares of ConnectOne Bancorp in a report on Monday, April 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of ConnectOne Bancorp from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Piper Sandler started coverage on shares of ConnectOne Bancorp in a report on Monday, March 16th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $31.00 price objective for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and three have assigned a Buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $33.25.

ConnectOne Bancorp Trading Up 0.8%

The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The company’s fifty day moving average is $29.19 and its 200-day moving average is $27.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.47 and a beta of 1.06.

ConnectOne Bancorp (NASDAQ:CNOB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.06. ConnectOne Bancorp had a net margin of 13.21% and a return on equity of 10.17%. The firm had revenue of $116.64 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $119.59 million. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that ConnectOne Bancorp, Inc. will post 3.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ConnectOne Bancorp Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th were issued a $0.195 dividend. This is a boost from ConnectOne Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 15th. This represents a $0.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. ConnectOne Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 45.09%.

Institutional Trading of ConnectOne Bancorp

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Stieven Capital Advisors L.P. boosted its holdings in ConnectOne Bancorp by 29.3% in the 3rd quarter. Stieven Capital Advisors L.P. now owns 700,739 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $17,385,000 after purchasing an additional 158,672 shares during the period. Kennedy Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in ConnectOne Bancorp in the 3rd quarter valued at $18,974,000. Endeavour Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in ConnectOne Bancorp in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,787,000. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in ConnectOne Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at $15,712,000. Finally, UBS Group AG boosted its holdings in ConnectOne Bancorp by 579.2% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 705,119 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $18,488,000 after purchasing an additional 601,310 shares during the period. 67.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About ConnectOne Bancorp

ConnectOne Bancorp is a New Jersey‐based bank holding company whose primary subsidiary, ConnectOne Bank, offers a suite of commercial banking services to small and medium‐sized businesses, professionals and individuals. Established in 2005 and headquartered in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, the company seeks to deliver customized lending and deposit solutions through a network of branches across northern New Jersey and the New York metropolitan area.

The company’s lending portfolio centers on commercial real estate financing, construction lending, owner‐occupied real estate loans and working capital lines of credit.