Short Interest in FS Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSBW) Expands By 5.4%

FS Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSBW) saw a significant increase in short interest in October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 41,000 shares, an increase of 5.4% from the September 30th total of 38,900 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 17,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.3 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of FS Bancorp from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. DA Davidson raised their price target on shares of FS Bancorp from $34.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th.

FS Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FSBW traded down $0.26 during trading on Friday, reaching $43.50. The company had a trading volume of 1,679 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,003. FS Bancorp has a 52 week low of $28.07 and a 52 week high of $47.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.08. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $43.85 and its 200-day moving average price is $38.51. The stock has a market cap of $337.13 million, a PE ratio of 9.29 and a beta of 0.93.

FS Bancorp (NASDAQ:FSBW) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The bank reported $1.29 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.15. FS Bancorp had a return on equity of 13.58% and a net margin of 18.28%. The company had revenue of $53.01 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $37.10 million. Analysts expect that FS Bancorp will post 4.56 earnings per share for the current year.

FS Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 7th will be paid a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 7th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.48%. FS Bancorp’s payout ratio is presently 22.93%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in shares of FS Bancorp by 22.7% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 30,292 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,348,000 after acquiring an additional 5,614 shares during the period. Copeland Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of FS Bancorp during the third quarter worth $62,000. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of FS Bancorp in the 3rd quarter valued at $103,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in FS Bancorp by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 395,126 shares of the bank’s stock worth $14,401,000 after buying an additional 3,811 shares during the period. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers lifted its holdings in FS Bancorp by 4.4% during the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 10,197 shares of the bank’s stock worth $372,000 after acquiring an additional 434 shares in the last quarter. 63.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About FS Bancorp

FS Bancorp, Inc operates as a bank holding company for 1st Security Bank of Washington that provides banking and financial services to local families, local and regional businesses, and industry niches. The company operates in two segments, Commercial and Consumer Banking; and Home Lending. It offers various deposit instruments, including checking accounts, money market deposit accounts, savings accounts, and certificates of deposit.