ConnectOne Bancorp (NASDAQ:CNOB) Shares Gap Down – Time to Sell?

ConnectOne Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:CNOB) gapped down prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $24.21, but opened at $23.32. ConnectOne Bancorp shares last traded at $24.09, with a volume of 21,279 shares.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of ConnectOne Bancorp from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $31.00 to $32.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th.

ConnectOne Bancorp Stock Performance

The company’s 50-day moving average is $24.79 and its two-hundred day moving average is $25.03. The company has a market capitalization of $923.89 million, a P/E ratio of 13.58 and a beta of 1.29. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.10. ConnectOne Bancorp had a net margin of 13.80% and a return on equity of 6.77%. Equities analysts anticipate that ConnectOne Bancorp, Inc. will post 2.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ConnectOne Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.99%. ConnectOne Bancorp’s payout ratio is 40.68%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ConnectOne Bancorp

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CNOB. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of ConnectOne Bancorp by 0.4% during 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. raised its stake in shares of ConnectOne Bancorp by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,166,557 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $49,636,000 after acquiring an additional 19,348 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 worth $21,359,000 after acquiring an additional 6,880 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in shares of ConnectOne Bancorp by 23.2% in the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 826,463 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $18,934,000 after acquiring an additional 155,573 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake 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. 67.70% of the stock is currently 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.