FS Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSBW) Short Interest Up 27.2% in June

FS Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSBW) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 22,000 shares, an increase of 27.2% from the May 31st total of 17,300 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 11,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.9 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com cut shares of FS Bancorp from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st.

FS Bancorp Price Performance

FSBW opened at $36.45 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $32.80 and a 200-day moving average price of $33.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The firm has a market cap of $284.31 million, a PE ratio of 7.96 and a beta of 0.94. FS Bancorp has a 1 year low of $28.07 and a 1 year high of $38.70.

FS Bancorp (NASDAQ:FSBW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The bank reported $1.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $35.46 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.05 million. FS Bancorp had a return on equity of 14.17% and a net margin of 18.69%. Sell-side analysts predict that FS Bancorp will post 4.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FS Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 9th were given a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.85%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 8th. FS Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.71%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On FS Bancorp

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in FS Bancorp by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 403,704 shares of the bank’s stock worth $14,013,000 after buying an additional 2,376 shares during the last quarter. TCW Group Inc. raised its position in FS Bancorp by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 284,519 shares of the bank’s stock worth $10,516,000 after buying an additional 2,540 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in FS Bancorp by 8.1% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 30,437 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,056,000 after buying an additional 2,275 shares during the last quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. raised its position in FS Bancorp by 9.6% in the 4th quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 16,338 shares of the bank’s stock worth $604,000 after buying an additional 1,436 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position in FS Bancorp by 25.6% in the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 12,710 shares of the bank’s stock worth $441,000 after buying an additional 2,590 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 63.88% of the company’s stock.

FS Bancorp Company Profile

FS Bancorp, Inc operates as a bank holding company for 1st Security Bank of Washington that provides banking and financial services to local families, local and regional businesses, and industry niches. The company operates in two segments, Commercial and Consumer Banking; and Home Lending. It offers various deposit instruments, including checking accounts, money market deposit accounts, savings accounts, and certificates of deposit.