Western New England Bancorp (NASDAQ:WNEB) Director Philip Smith Sells 3,300 Shares of Stock

Western New England Bancorp (NASDAQ:WNEB) Director Philip Smith sold 3,300 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.88, for a total value of $45,804.00. Following the sale, the director owned 5,800 shares in the company, valued at approximately $80,504. This represents a 36.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Western New England Bancorp Stock Up 1.3%

WNEB opened at $13.89 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $278.44 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.54 and a beta of 0.77. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $14.00 and a 200-day moving average price of $13.60. Western New England Bancorp has a twelve month low of $10.78 and a twelve month high of $15.01. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

Western New England Bancorp (NASDAQ:WNEB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The financial services provider reported $0.18 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.24 by ($0.06). Western New England Bancorp had a net margin of 12.43% and a return on equity of 6.78%. The firm had revenue of $27.11 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.74 million. Equities research analysts forecast that Western New England Bancorp will post 0.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Western New England Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 12th were given a dividend of $0.07 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 12th. This represents a $0.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Western New England Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.33%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Sound Income Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in Western New England Bancorp in the 1st quarter worth approximately $40,000. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its position in shares of Western New England Bancorp by 265.5% in the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 3,589 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 2,607 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Western New England Bancorp in the second quarter worth $39,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position in shares of Western New England Bancorp by 95.7% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 5,003 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $60,000 after purchasing an additional 2,446 shares during the period. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Western New England Bancorp by 9.8% during the 4th quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 8,130 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $103,000 after purchasing an additional 726 shares during the period. 67.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on WNEB. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Western New England Bancorp from $15.00 to $15.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Seaport Research Partners cut shares of Western New England Bancorp from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Western New England Bancorp from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Western New England Bancorp in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Western New England Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $15.50.

About Western New England Bancorp

Western New England Bancorp is a bank holding company headquartered in Westfield, Massachusetts. Through its wholly owned subsidiary, Westfield Bank, the company provides a full suite of commercial and consumer banking services. Its operations focus on serving small to mid-sized businesses, professional practices, and individual customers, with a strategy centered on relationship-driven banking and community involvement.

The company’s core offerings include deposit products such as checking, savings and money market accounts, along with business cash-management solutions.