Western New England Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:WNEB) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Western New England Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:WNEB) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 64,700 shares, a growth of 16.8% from the August 15th total of 55,400 shares. Approximately 0.4% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 35,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.8 days.

Western New England Bancorp Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ WNEB opened at $8.74 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $186.34 million, a P/E ratio of 14.57 and a beta of 0.69. Western New England Bancorp has a 1-year low of $6.00 and a 1-year high of $9.25. The business’s 50 day moving average is $8.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $7.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.95.

Western New England Bancorp (NASDAQ:WNEB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.17 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.11 by $0.06. Western New England Bancorp had a return on equity of 5.73% and a net margin of 11.33%. The company had revenue of $30.64 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.22 million. As a group, research analysts expect that Western New England Bancorp will post 0.53 EPS for the current year.

Western New England Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 21st. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 7th were issued a dividend of $0.07 per share. This represents a $0.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 7th. Western New England Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 46.67%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Western New England Bancorp

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Western New England Bancorp by 16.6% during the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 401,909 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,762,000 after purchasing an additional 57,099 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its stake in Western New England Bancorp by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,200,362 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,258,000 after acquiring an additional 32,700 shares in the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Western New England Bancorp by 7.1% during the second quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 425,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,924,000 after acquiring an additional 28,000 shares during the period. Panagora Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Western New England Bancorp during the second quarter valued at approximately $170,000. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC bought a new stake in shares of Western New England Bancorp during the first quarter valued at approximately $85,000. Institutional investors own 67.95% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on WNEB. Seaport Res Ptn cut Western New England Bancorp from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Western New England Bancorp from $7.00 to $8.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott downgraded Western New England Bancorp from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $8.00.

Western New England Bancorp Company Profile

Western New England Bancorp, Inc operates as the holding company for Westfield Bank that provides a range of commercial and retail banking products and services to individuals and businesses. The company accepts various deposit accounts, including interest-bearing and noninterest-bearing checking, commercial checking, business, nonprofit and municipal checking, savings, money market and sweep, individual retirement, and other savings accounts; time deposits; certificates of deposit; and interest on lawyer's trust accounts.