Byline Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BY) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Byline Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BY) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in February. As of February 13th, there was short interest totaling 497,852 shares, a growth of 18.9% from the January 29th total of 418,555 shares. Approximately 1.5% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 172,113 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.9 days. Based on an average daily volume of 172,113 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.9 days. Approximately 1.5% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on BY shares. Zacks Research upgraded Byline Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $37.00 price objective on shares of Byline Bancorp in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Byline Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Byline Bancorp presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $33.67.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Boston Partners boosted its position in Byline Bancorp by 1.9% during the second quarter. Boston Partners now owns 732,464 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,500,000 after acquiring an additional 13,818 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning boosted its holdings in shares of Byline Bancorp by 67.2% during the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 75,061 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,006,000 after purchasing an additional 30,169 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in shares of Byline Bancorp by 13.9% in the second quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 167,496 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,477,000 after purchasing an additional 20,448 shares during the period. Endeavour Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Byline Bancorp in the second quarter valued at $4,010,000. Finally, Bailard Inc. acquired a new position in Byline Bancorp in the second quarter valued at $519,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Byline Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of BY stock traded down $0.64 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $31.28. The stock had a trading volume of 50,958 shares, compared to its average volume of 195,305. Byline Bancorp has a 12-month low of $22.63 and a 12-month high of $33.89. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $31.38 and a 200 day simple moving average of $29.31. The company has a market cap of $1.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.86 and a beta of 0.84.

Byline Bancorp (NYSE:BY) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The company reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.04. Byline Bancorp had a net margin of 20.54% and a return on equity of 11.19%. The firm had revenue of $117.01 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $112.51 million. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Byline Bancorp will post 2.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Byline Bancorp Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 3rd were paid a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 3rd. This is an increase from Byline Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. Byline Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.67%.

Byline Bancorp announced that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Thursday, December 11th that authorizes the company to buyback $2.25 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 0.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

About Byline Bancorp

Byline Bancorp, Inc is the bank holding company for Byline Bank, a full-service commercial bank headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. Established under its current name in 2016, the company operates as a community-focused financial institution offering a broad array of banking products and services to corporate, professional and consumer clients.

On the commercial banking side, Byline Bancorp serves small and midsize businesses, real estate developers, professional services firms and nonprofit organizations.