Short Interest in SB Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SBFG) Declines By 12.7%

SB Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SBFG - Get Free Report) was the target of a large drop in short interest in the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 114,200 shares, a drop of 12.7% from the December 31st total of 130,800 shares. Approximately 1.9% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 21,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 5.3 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On SB Financial Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SBFG. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in SB Financial Group by 5.2% during the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 37,762 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $776,000 after acquiring an additional 1,876 shares during the period. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in shares of SB Financial Group by 325.1% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,271 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 972 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of SB Financial Group by 3.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 71,076 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,462,000 after acquiring an additional 2,416 shares during the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management purchased a new position in SB Financial Group during the fourth quarter worth about $408,000. Finally, PL Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in SB Financial Group by 1,991.0% during the fourth quarter. PL Capital Advisors LLC now owns 588,805 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $12,312,000 after buying an additional 560,646 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.67% of the company's stock.

SB Financial Group Price Performance

SB Financial Group stock traded up $0.49 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $23.48. The company had a trading volume of 18,019 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,548. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $21.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $19.27. SB Financial Group has a 1-year low of $13.01 and a 1-year high of $23.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $156.16 million, a PE ratio of 13.60 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.92.

SB Financial Group (NASDAQ:SBFG - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.11. SB Financial Group had a return on equity of 8.98% and a net margin of 14.10%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that SB Financial Group will post 1.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SB Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $0.145 dividend. This represents a $0.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.47%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. SB Financial Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 33.72%.

SB Financial Group Company Profile

SB Financial Group, Inc operates as the financial holding company for the State Bank and Trust Company that provides a range of commercial banking and wealth management services to individual and corporate customers primarily in Ohio, Indiana, and Michigan. It offers checking, savings, money market accounts, as well as time certificates of deposit; and commercial, consumer, agricultural, and residential mortgage loans.