CVB Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:CVBF) Short Interest Update

CVB Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:CVBF) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totaling 6,092,678 shares, an increase of 41.5% from the December 15th total of 4,305,349 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,971,847 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.1 days. Currently, 4.7% of the company’s shares are short sold. Currently, 4.7% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 1,971,847 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.1 days.

CVB Financial Price Performance

NASDAQ CVBF traded up $0.04 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $19.92. 1,201,683 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,319,434. CVB Financial has a 52 week low of $16.01 and a 52 week high of $21.41. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $19.40 and its 200-day simple moving average is $19.51. The company has a market cap of $2.73 billion, a PE ratio of 13.64 and a beta of 0.68.

CVB Financial (NASDAQ:CVBF) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by $0.01. CVB Financial had a return on equity of 9.18% and a net margin of 31.95%.The firm had revenue of $128.58 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $131.10 million. On average, research analysts predict that CVB Financial will post 1.41 earnings per share for the current year.

CVB Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 13th. Investors of record on Monday, December 29th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 29th. CVB Financial’s payout ratio is 54.79%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director George A. Borba, Jr. acquired 27,094 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 14th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $18.45 per share, for a total transaction of $499,884.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 745,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,759,677.90. The trade was a 3.77% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 6.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of CVB Financial

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of CVB Financial in the second quarter valued at approximately $28,320,000. QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in CVB Financial by 7.4% in the 2nd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 11,030 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $218,000 after acquiring an additional 763 shares during the period. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co acquired a new stake in CVB Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at $405,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in CVB Financial by 13.5% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,765 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $114,000 after acquiring an additional 685 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. raised its position in CVB Financial by 4.6% during the second quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 846,204 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $16,746,000 after acquiring an additional 36,839 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CVBF has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of CVB Financial in a report on Monday, December 29th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of CVB Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Sunday, December 14th. Finally, DA Davidson raised their target price on shares of CVB Financial from $21.00 to $22.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CVB Financial presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $23.88.

About CVB Financial

CVB Financial Corp is the bank holding company for Citizens Business Bank, a California-based commercial bank whose operations trace back to 1974. Headquartered in Ontario, California, the company provides a broad range of banking and financial services through its community-focused branch network. As a publicly traded company on the NASDAQ under the symbol CVBF, CVB Financial oversees strategic planning, corporate governance and long-term growth initiatives for its subsidiary.

The company’s core business activities include commercial lending, real estate financing, equipment leasing and Small Business Administration (SBA) loan programs.