ConnectOne Bancorp (NASDAQ:CNOB) Upgraded to Outperform at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of ConnectOne Bancorp (NASDAQ:CNOB) from a market perform rating to an outperform rating in a research note published on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods currently has $32.00 price objective on the financial services provider’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $31.00.

ConnectOne Bancorp Stock Performance

NASDAQ CNOB opened at $24.56 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $24.68 and a 200-day moving average price of $25.02. ConnectOne Bancorp has a 1 year low of $17.07 and a 1 year high of $29.31. The firm has a market cap of $942.47 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.88 and a beta of 1.30.

ConnectOne Bancorp (NASDAQ:CNOB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.10. ConnectOne Bancorp had a net margin of 13.80% and a return on equity of 6.77%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that ConnectOne Bancorp will post 2.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ConnectOne Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.93%. ConnectOne Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 40.68%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ConnectOne Bancorp

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new position in shares of ConnectOne Bancorp in the 3rd quarter worth about $14,127,000. Stieven Capital Advisors L.P. raised its position in ConnectOne Bancorp by 96.2% in the fourth quarter. Stieven Capital Advisors L.P. now owns 508,265 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $11,644,000 after acquiring an additional 249,265 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in ConnectOne Bancorp by 23.2% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 826,463 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $18,934,000 after acquiring an additional 155,573 shares during the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC grew its position in shares of ConnectOne Bancorp by 42.4% during the 4th quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 282,221 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,466,000 after acquiring an additional 84,028 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of ConnectOne Bancorp by 52.8% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 242,920 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,262,000 after purchasing an additional 83,950 shares during the last quarter. 67.70% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

ConnectOne Bancorp Company Profile

ConnectOne Bancorp, Inc operates as the bank holding company for ConnectOne Bank that provides commercial banking products and services for small and mid-sized businesses, local professionals, and individuals in the New York Metropolitan area and South Florida market. The company offers personal and business checking, money market, and time and savings accounts; credit cards, wire transfers, safe deposit boxes, automated teller services and telephone, and internet and mobile banking.