FS Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSBW) Short Interest Up 93.5% in April

FS Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSBW) was the target of a significant increase in short interest during the month of April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totaling 152,229 shares, an increase of 93.5% from the April 15th total of 78,653 shares. Currently, 2.3% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 21,450 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 7.1 days.

FS Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of FSBW stock traded down $0.50 on Friday, hitting $39.60. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 11,807 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,534. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.04. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $39.87 and its 200-day moving average is $40.65. FS Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $36.66 and a fifty-two week high of $44.22. The company has a market capitalization of $214.43 million, a PE ratio of 9.23 and a beta of 0.67.

FS Bancorp (NASDAQ:FSBW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The bank reported $1.02 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.01. FS Bancorp had a net margin of 14.91% and a return on equity of 10.88%. The business had revenue of $37.95 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $37.70 million. Equities research analysts expect that FS Bancorp will post 4.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FS Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, May 7th will be paid a $0.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 7th. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. FS Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is 27.04%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of FS Bancorp from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday. DA Davidson boosted their target price on shares of FS Bancorp from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, FS Bancorp currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.00.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On FS Bancorp

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Rhumbline Advisers grew its stake in shares of FS Bancorp by 4.7% in the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 9,891 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $390,000 after acquiring an additional 446 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of FS Bancorp by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 15,256 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $628,000 after acquiring an additional 503 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC grew its stake in shares of FS Bancorp by 135.0% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,060 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 609 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its stake in shares of FS Bancorp by 1,852.8% in the third quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 703 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 667 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its stake in shares of FS Bancorp by 104.3% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 1,330 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 679 shares in the last quarter. 63.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About FS Bancorp

FS Bancorp, Inc (NASDAQ: FSBW) is a bank holding company headquartered in Illinois that provides community banking services in the Midwestern United States. Through its wholly owned banking subsidiary, the company offers a full suite of deposit products, including checking and savings accounts, money market instruments, certificates of deposit and online banking platforms.

On the lending side, FS Bancorp extends commercial and industrial loans, residential mortgage financing, consumer credit and agricultural lending.