CNB Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:CCNE) Short Interest Down 14.5% in March

CNB Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:CCNE) was the target of a significant decline in short interest during the month of March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 351,681 shares, a decline of 14.5% from the February 26th total of 411,345 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 115,989 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.0 days. Currently, 1.2% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

CNB Financial Price Performance

CNB Financial stock opened at $29.31 on Thursday. CNB Financial has a 12 month low of $19.32 and a 12 month high of $30.84. The company has a market capitalization of $868.75 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.06 and a beta of 0.67. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $28.37 and its 200-day moving average is $26.55. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

CNB Financial (NASDAQ:CCNE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 27th. The bank reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.10. CNB Financial had a return on equity of 11.10% and a net margin of 15.29%.The business had revenue of $87.16 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $73.10 million. Equities research analysts expect that CNB Financial will post 2.04 EPS for the current year.

CNB Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 13th. Investors of record on Friday, February 27th were paid a dividend of $0.19 per share. This is a boost from CNB Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 27th. CNB Financial’s payout ratio is 31.28%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings raised shares of CNB Financial from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Stephens boosted their price target on shares of CNB Financial from $28.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised CNB Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, CNB Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $32.00.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in CCNE. Pinnacle Holdings LLC purchased a new position in shares of CNB Financial in the 3rd quarter worth about $1,213,000. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in shares of CNB Financial by 7.9% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 543,476 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $12,424,000 after buying an additional 39,825 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Close LLC bought a new stake in shares of CNB Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,782,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC purchased a new position in shares of CNB Financial in the second quarter valued at about $611,000. Finally, Stieven Capital Advisors L.P. lifted its stake in CNB Financial by 58.2% in the third quarter. Stieven Capital Advisors L.P. now owns 461,373 shares of the bank’s stock worth $11,165,000 after acquiring an additional 169,683 shares during the period. 52.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About CNB Financial

CNB Financial Corporation (NASDAQ: CCNE) is a bank holding company headquartered in Clearfield, Pennsylvania. The company operates through its wholly owned subsidiary, CNB Bank & Trust, providing a full suite of community banking services. With a focus on relationship-driven banking, CNB Financial seeks to serve individuals, small businesses and agricultural clients across central Pennsylvania.

The company’s core offerings include deposit products such as checking accounts, savings accounts, money market accounts and certificates of deposit.