ConnectOne Bancorp (NASDAQ:CNOB) Sets New 52-Week High – Should You Buy?

ConnectOne Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:CNOB) reached a new 52-week high on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $33.99 and last traded at $34.06, with a volume of 131113 shares. The stock had previously closed at $33.02.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of ConnectOne Bancorp in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on ConnectOne Bancorp from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Hovde Group raised their price objective on shares of ConnectOne Bancorp from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of ConnectOne Bancorp from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of ConnectOne Bancorp from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $35.00.

ConnectOne Bancorp Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $31.32 and a 200-day moving average price of $28.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.65 and a beta of 1.05.

ConnectOne Bancorp (NASDAQ:CNOB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.79 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.06. ConnectOne Bancorp had a return on equity of 10.17% and a net margin of 13.21%.The business had revenue of $116.64 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $119.59 million. As a group, analysts anticipate that ConnectOne Bancorp, Inc. will post 3.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ConnectOne Bancorp Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th were given a dividend of $0.195 per share. This is a boost from ConnectOne Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. This represents a $0.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. ConnectOne Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.09%.

Institutional Trading of ConnectOne Bancorp

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Shulman DeMeo Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in ConnectOne Bancorp during the 2nd quarter worth about $208,000. Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in ConnectOne Bancorp by 5.0% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 223,051 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,971,000 after acquiring an additional 10,555 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in ConnectOne Bancorp by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 922,378 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $24,692,000 after acquiring an additional 9,146 shares in the last quarter. Amundi bought a new position in shares of ConnectOne Bancorp in the first quarter worth about $330,000. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted its position in shares of ConnectOne Bancorp by 8.2% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 20,430 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $547,000 after purchasing an additional 1,554 shares in the last quarter. 67.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About ConnectOne Bancorp

ConnectOne Bancorp is a New Jersey‐based bank holding company whose primary subsidiary, ConnectOne Bank, offers a suite of commercial banking services to small and medium‐sized businesses, professionals and individuals. Established in 2005 and headquartered in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, the company seeks to deliver customized lending and deposit solutions through a network of branches across northern New Jersey and the New York metropolitan area.

The company’s lending portfolio centers on commercial real estate financing, construction lending, owner‐occupied real estate loans and working capital lines of credit.