Short Interest in Hawthorn Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:HWBK) Decreases By 5.1%

Hawthorn Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:HWBK) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest during the month of June. As of June 30th, there was short interest totalling 157,600 shares, a drop of 5.1% from the June 15th total of 166,000 shares. Approximately 2.5% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 8,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 19.2 days.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hawthorn Bancshares

In other news, CEO Brent M. Giles acquired 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 29th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $18.75 per share, for a total transaction of $37,500.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 7,568 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $141,900. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Hawthorn Bancshares news, CEO Brent M. Giles bought 2,000 shares of Hawthorn Bancshares stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 29th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $18.75 per share, for a total transaction of $37,500.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 7,568 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $141,900. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Douglas Todd Eden bought 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $19.63 per share, for a total transaction of $294,450.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 76,826 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,508,094.38. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders bought a total of 24,500 shares of company stock worth $476,855 over the last quarter. 23.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in HWBK. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in Hawthorn Bancshares by 7.9% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 24,029 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $491,000 after acquiring an additional 1,750 shares during the period. Eagle Bluffs Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Hawthorn Bancshares during the 1st quarter worth $240,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Hawthorn Bancshares by 4.8% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 278,318 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,686,000 after purchasing an additional 12,800 shares during the period. Finally, Alexander Labrunerie & CO. Inc. acquired a new position in Hawthorn Bancshares in the first quarter valued at about $381,000. 30.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Hawthorn Bancshares Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ HWBK opened at $21.10 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $147.70 million, a P/E ratio of 70.33 and a beta of 0.56. The business’s 50 day moving average is $19.80 and its 200-day moving average is $21.19. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16. Hawthorn Bancshares has a 1-year low of $15.02 and a 1-year high of $26.00.

Hawthorn Bancshares (NASDAQ:HWBK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $17.77 million for the quarter. Hawthorn Bancshares had a return on equity of 1.65% and a net margin of 2.09%.

Hawthorn Bancshares Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Saturday, June 15th were issued a $0.19 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.60%. This is an increase from Hawthorn Bancshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. Hawthorn Bancshares’s payout ratio is currently 253.33%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Hawthorn Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday.

Hawthorn Bancshares Company Profile

Hawthorn Bancshares, Inc operates as the bank holding company for Hawthorn Bank that provides various banking services in the United States. It accepts checking, savings, money market, individual retirement, and other time deposit accounts, as well as certificates of deposit. The company also offers commercial and industrial, single payment personal, installment, commercial and residential real estate, and consumer loans, as well as equipment, operating, and small business administration loans; and debit and credit cards.