Short Interest in Pathward Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASH) Grows By 5.7%

Pathward Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASH - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,840,000 shares, a growth of 5.7% from the November 30th total of 1,740,000 shares. Approximately 7.8% of the company's stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 198,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 9.3 days.

Pathward Financial Stock Down 0.9 %

Pathward Financial stock traded down $0.67 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $73.58. 132,541 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 184,141. Pathward Financial has a 1-year low of $46.68 and a 1-year high of $86.00. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $78.19 and a two-hundred day moving average of $69.23. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The stock has a market cap of $1.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.10 and a beta of 0.69.

Pathward Financial (NASDAQ:CASH - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The savings and loans company reported $1.35 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.27 by $0.08. Pathward Financial had a return on equity of 21.86% and a net margin of 21.65%. The business had revenue of $167.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $167.20 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.36 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Pathward Financial will post 7.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pathward Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 10th will be paid a $0.05 dividend. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.27%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 10th. Pathward Financial's payout ratio is 3.02%.

Insider Activity at Pathward Financial

In related news, CFO Greg Sigrist sold 2,250 shares of Pathward Financial stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.60, for a total transaction of $181,350.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 9,644 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $777,306.40. This trade represents a 18.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.72% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC increased its position in Pathward Financial by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,052,287 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $135,471,000 after buying an additional 132,067 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in Pathward Financial by 1.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,274,851 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $84,218,000 after acquiring an additional 17,004 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Pathward Financial by 2.8% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 699,884 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $46,206,000 after acquiring an additional 18,936 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in Pathward Financial by 20.4% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 504,708 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $28,551,000 after purchasing an additional 85,566 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Pathward Financial by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 328,413 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $21,679,000 after purchasing an additional 1,733 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.66% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on CASH shares. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Pathward Financial from $82.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Pathward Financial from $76.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th.

About Pathward Financial

Pathward Financial, Inc operates as the bank holding company for Pathward, National Association that provides various banking products and services in the United States. The company operates through three segments: Consumer, Commercial, and Corporate Services/Other. It offers demand deposit accounts, savings accounts, and money market savings accounts.