ConnectOne Bancorp (NASDAQ:CNOB) Upgraded to “Strong-Buy” at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of ConnectOne Bancorp (NASDAQ:CNOB) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a report issued on Wednesday morning,Zacks reports.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on CNOB. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of ConnectOne Bancorp in a report on Monday, August 17th. Raymond James Financial raised shares of ConnectOne Bancorp from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $37.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, October 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and five have given a Buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, ConnectOne Bancorp currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $35.75.

ConnectOne Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of CNOB stock opened at $32.46 on Wednesday. ConnectOne Bancorp has a 12-month low of $23.20 and a 12-month high of $34.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.35 and a beta of 1.04. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $31.36 and a 200 day simple moving average of $30.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.04.

ConnectOne Bancorp (NASDAQ:CNOB) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.85 by $0.10. ConnectOne Bancorp had a return on equity of 11.96% and a net margin of 18.97%. The firm had revenue of $127.23 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $125.36 million. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that ConnectOne Bancorp will post 3.44 EPS for the current year.

ConnectOne Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 1st. Investors of record on Friday, November 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.1950 per share. This represents a $0.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 13th. ConnectOne Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.27%.

Insider Activity at ConnectOne Bancorp

In related news, insider Elizabeth Magennis sold 6,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.67, for a total transaction of $225,423.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 137,383 shares in the company, valued at $4,488,302.61. This trade represents a 4.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 5.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ConnectOne Bancorp

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CNOB. R Squared Ltd lifted its holdings in ConnectOne Bancorp by 25.9% in the 3rd quarter. R Squared Ltd now owns 10,042 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $302,000 after acquiring an additional 2,066 shares during the last quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of ConnectOne Bancorp during the 3rd quarter valued at about $547,000. CenterBook Partners LP acquired a new position in shares of ConnectOne Bancorp in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $619,000. Kestra Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of ConnectOne Bancorp by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 98,624 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,964,000 after purchasing an additional 480 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sterling Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of ConnectOne Bancorp by 45.4% in the 3rd quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,124 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 351 shares during the last quarter. 67.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

ConnectOne Bancorp Company Profile

ConnectOne Bancorp, Inc is the parent company of ConnectOne Bank, a full-service commercial bank headquartered in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey. The bank primarily serves businesses, entrepreneurs, professionals, nonprofit organizations and individuals in the New York metropolitan area and surrounding communities.

ConnectOne Bank provides a range of commercial and personal banking products, including checking and savings accounts, certificates of deposit, commercial and industrial loans, commercial real estate financing, construction loans, residential mortgage loans and consumer lending.