Union Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:UNB) Sees Large Drop in Short Interest

Union Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:UNB - Get Free Report) saw a significant decrease in short interest in October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 7,700 shares, a decrease of 15.4% from the September 30th total of 9,100 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 6,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.2 days. Approximately 0.2% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com lowered shares of Union Bankshares from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th.

Union Bankshares Price Performance

Shares of UNB stock traded up $0.86 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $29.60. 10,711 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,395. Union Bankshares has a fifty-two week low of $21.00 and a fifty-two week high of $32.00. The stock's fifty day moving average is $26.28 and its two-hundred day moving average is $24.85. The company has a market cap of $133.76 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.49 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.79.

Union Bankshares (NASDAQ:UNB - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, August 9th. The bank reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Union Bankshares had a net margin of 13.63% and a return on equity of 13.53%. The company had revenue of $12.25 million for the quarter.

Union Bankshares Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 7th. Investors of record on Saturday, October 26th will be issued a $0.36 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 25th. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.86%. Union Bankshares's dividend payout ratio is currently 60.76%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Union Bankshares

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Cardinal Capital Management increased its stake in Union Bankshares by 15.1% in the third quarter. Cardinal Capital Management now owns 74,413 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,930,000 after purchasing an additional 9,784 shares in the last quarter. Community Financial Services Group LLC bought a new stake in Union Bankshares in the third quarter valued at approximately $220,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Union Bankshares by 10.4% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 30,924 shares of the bank's stock valued at $664,000 after purchasing an additional 2,914 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its stake in Union Bankshares by 7.7% in the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 14,032 shares of the bank's stock valued at $301,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. 14.84% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Union Bankshares Company Profile

Union Bankshares, Inc operates as the bank holding company for Union Bank that provides retail, commercial, and municipal banking products and services in northern Vermont and New Hampshire. It offers retail depository services, such as personal checking, savings, money market, IRA/SEP/KEOGH, and health savings accounts, as well as certificates of deposit.