FS Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSBW) Sees Large Decrease in Short Interest

FS Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSBW) was the target of a significant drop in short interest in the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totaling 144,784 shares, a drop of 32.1% from the August 15th total of 213,209 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 19,651 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 7.4 days. Currently, 2.2% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other FS Bancorp news, Director Terri Degner sold 1,694 shares of FS Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.72, for a total value of $72,367.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 2,175 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $92,916. The trade was a 43.78% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 12.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of FS Bancorp in the 2nd quarter valued at about $21,213,000. De Lisle Partners LLP acquired a new position in FS Bancorp during the second quarter worth approximately $16,956,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in FS Bancorp during the second quarter worth approximately $2,150,000. Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new stake in FS Bancorp in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,793,000. Finally, Siena Capital Partners GP LLC lifted its stake in FS Bancorp by 156.1% in the fourth quarter. Siena Capital Partners GP LLC now owns 52,441 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,159,000 after buying an additional 31,965 shares during the last quarter. 63.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on FSBW. Brean Capital cut shares of FS Bancorp from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $45.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Monday, July 27th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of FS Bancorp from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. Zacks Research cut shares of FS Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $45.00 price objective on shares of FS Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, FS Bancorp presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $45.00.

FS Bancorp Stock Down 0.7%

FS Bancorp stock traded down $0.30 during trading on Thursday, reaching $44.17. The stock had a trading volume of 4,145 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,620. FS Bancorp has a 52-week low of $36.66 and a 52-week high of $45.85. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $43.27 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.58. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. The stock has a market cap of $328.18 million, a PE ratio of 10.18 and a beta of 0.66.

FS Bancorp (NASDAQ:FSBW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The bank reported $1.08 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.08. FS Bancorp had a net margin of 14.88% and a return on equity of 10.86%. The company had revenue of $5.24 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.00 million. On average, analysts predict that FS Bancorp will post 4.34 EPS for the current year.

FS Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 7th were issued a dividend of $0.29 per share. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 7th. FS Bancorp’s payout ratio is 26.73%.

FS Bancorp Company Profile

FS Bancorp, Inc is the bank holding company for 1st Security Bank of Washington, a community bank headquartered in Mountlake Terrace, Washington. The company serves individuals, families, businesses and other organizations primarily through banking operations in Washington state.

Through 1st Security Bank, FS Bancorp offers deposit products, residential and commercial real estate loans, construction and land development financing, commercial and industrial loans, consumer lending and other traditional banking services.