Pathward Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASH) Short Interest Up 5.7% in December

Pathward Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASH) saw a significant increase in short interest during the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,840,000 shares, an increase of 5.7% from the November 30th total of 1,740,000 shares. Currently, 7.8% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 198,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 9.3 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CASH has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Pathward Financial from $82.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Pathward Financial from $76.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Greg Sigrist sold 2,250 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.60, for a total transaction of $181,350.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 9,644 shares in the company, valued at approximately $777,306.40. This represents a 18.92 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.72% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Pathward Financial

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CASH. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its position in shares of Pathward Financial by 2.5% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 12,803 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $724,000 after acquiring an additional 315 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Pathward Financial by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 6,032 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $397,000 after purchasing an additional 393 shares during the period. Quarry LP raised its position in Pathward Financial by 419.0% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 519 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 419 shares in the last quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. acquired a new stake in Pathward Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Point72 DIFC Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Pathward Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at about $35,000. 92.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Pathward Financial Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ CASH opened at $73.58 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.77 billion, a PE ratio of 11.10 and a beta of 0.69. Pathward Financial has a twelve month low of $46.68 and a twelve month high of $86.00. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $78.19 and a 200-day simple moving average of $69.23.

Pathward Financial (NASDAQ:CASH) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The savings and loans company reported $1.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $167.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $167.20 million. Pathward Financial had a return on equity of 21.86% and a net margin of 21.65%. Pathward Financial’s revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.36 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Pathward Financial will post 7.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Pathward Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.05 per share. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.27%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 10th. Pathward Financial’s payout ratio is currently 3.02%.

About Pathward Financial

Pathward Financial, Inc operates as the bank holding company for Pathward, National Association that provides various banking products and services in the United States. The company operates through three segments: Consumer, Commercial, and Corporate Services/Other. It offers demand deposit accounts, savings accounts, and money market savings accounts.