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

ConnectOne Bancorp (NASDAQ:CNOB) was upgraded by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report issued on Wednesday,Finviz reports. The firm presently has a $32.00 price target on the financial services provider’s stock, up from their prior price target of $31.00. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ price objective would indicate a potential upside of 34.85% from the stock’s current price.

ConnectOne Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CNOB opened at $23.73 on Wednesday. ConnectOne Bancorp has a 12-month low of $17.07 and a 12-month high of $29.31. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $24.65 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $25.03. The firm has a market cap of $910.62 million, a PE ratio of 13.41 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ConnectOne Bancorp

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of ConnectOne Bancorp by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,294,385 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $52,564,000 after buying an additional 8,595 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in ConnectOne Bancorp by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,166,557 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $49,636,000 after acquiring an additional 19,348 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in ConnectOne Bancorp by 0.8% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 852,507 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $21,359,000 after purchasing an additional 6,880 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in ConnectOne Bancorp by 23.2% during the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 826,463 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $18,934,000 after purchasing an additional 155,573 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of ConnectOne Bancorp by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 771,714 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $17,680,000 after purchasing an additional 49,943 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.70% of the company’s stock.

About ConnectOne Bancorp

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.