Western New England Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:WNEB) Short Interest Up 142.4% in March

Western New England Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:WNEB) saw a large increase in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 147,400 shares, an increase of 142.4% from the February 28th total of 60,800 shares. Currently, 0.8% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 55,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.7 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Western New England Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Western New England Bancorp

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC grew its holdings in Western New England Bancorp by 483.3% during the 4th quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 7,314 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $67,000 after buying an additional 6,060 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in Western New England Bancorp in the fourth quarter worth $108,000. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in Western New England Bancorp in the fourth quarter worth $120,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Western New England Bancorp during the fourth quarter valued at $209,000. Finally, Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC bought a new position in Western New England Bancorp during the fourth quarter valued at $253,000. 67.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Western New England Bancorp Stock Down 1.5 %

NASDAQ WNEB opened at $9.29 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. Western New England Bancorp has a 12 month low of $6.00 and a 12 month high of $10.08. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $9.31 and its 200 day moving average is $9.07. The stock has a market cap of $192.75 million, a PE ratio of 16.59 and a beta of 0.71.

Western New England Bancorp (NASDAQ:WNEB) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The financial services provider reported $0.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.12 by $0.04. Western New England Bancorp had a net margin of 9.51% and a return on equity of 4.91%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.12 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Western New England Bancorp will post 0.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western New England Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 12th were issued a $0.07 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 12th. This represents a $0.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.01%. Western New England Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 50.00%.

About Western New England Bancorp

Western New England Bancorp, Inc operates as the holding company for Westfield Bank that provides a range of commercial and retail banking products and services to individuals and businesses. The company accepts various deposit accounts, including interest-bearing and noninterest-bearing checking, commercial checking, business, nonprofit and municipal checking, savings, money market and sweep, individual retirement, and other savings accounts; time deposits; certificates of deposit; and interest on lawyer's trust accounts.