Western New England Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:WNEB) Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

Western New England Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:WNEB) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest during the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 54,100 shares, a decrease of 19.3% from the December 31st total of 67,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 38,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.4 days. Currently, 0.3% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Western New England Bancorp Price Performance

WNEB opened at $9.40 on Friday. Western New England Bancorp has a one year low of $6.00 and a one year high of $10.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $197.59 million, a P/E ratio of 18.08 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $9.21 and its 200-day simple moving average is $8.77.

Western New England Bancorp (NASDAQ:WNEB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The financial services provider reported $0.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.12 by $0.04. Western New England Bancorp had a net margin of 9.05% and a return on equity of 4.58%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.12 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Western New England Bancorp will post 0.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western New England Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 12th will be paid a $0.07 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 12th. This represents a $0.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.98%. Western New England Bancorp’s payout ratio is presently 53.85%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Darlene M. Libiszewski sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.18, for a total transaction of $45,900.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 16,020 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $147,063.60. This represents a 23.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 5.80% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Western New England Bancorp

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in Western New England Bancorp by 23.8% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 44,422 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $378,000 after acquiring an additional 8,532 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in Western New England Bancorp by 48.8% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 49,236 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $419,000 after acquiring an additional 16,158 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in Western New England Bancorp by 5.3% in the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 79,545 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $676,000 after purchasing an additional 4,020 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its holdings in Western New England Bancorp by 16.9% in the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 82,605 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $702,000 after purchasing an additional 11,936 shares during the period. Finally, Fourthstone LLC raised its holdings in Western New England Bancorp by 372.5% in the third quarter. Fourthstone LLC now owns 769,807 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,543,000 after purchasing an additional 606,897 shares during the period. 67.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Western New England Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday.

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.