Short Interest in S&T Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:STBA) Drops By 18.8%

S&T Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:STBA - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest in October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 788,100 shares, a decline of 18.8% from the October 15th total of 970,100 shares. Approximately 2.1% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 152,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 5.2 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

STBA has been the topic of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded S&T Bancorp from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. DA Davidson lifted their price target on S&T Bancorp from $32.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th.

S&T Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of STBA stock traded down $0.07 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $42.34. 142,146 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 163,321. S&T Bancorp has a twelve month low of $27.43 and a twelve month high of $45.79. The firm has a market cap of $1.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.06 and a beta of 0.80. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $40.77 and its 200-day simple moving average is $37.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 0.99.

S&T Bancorp (NASDAQ:STBA - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $96.35 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $98.90 million. S&T Bancorp had a return on equity of 10.25% and a net margin of 23.69%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that S&T Bancorp will post 3.36 earnings per share for the current year.

S&T Bancorp Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, November 7th will be issued a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.21%. This is a boost from S&T Bancorp's previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 7th. S&T Bancorp's payout ratio is presently 38.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling at S&T Bancorp

In other S&T Bancorp news, Director Frank J. Palermo, Jr. sold 4,982 shares of S&T Bancorp stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.21, for a total transaction of $215,272.22. Following the sale, the director now owns 23,143 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,000,009.03. The trade was a 17.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.38% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On S&T Bancorp

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of STBA. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of S&T Bancorp by 1.6% during the second quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 19,200 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $641,000 after buying an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp grew its holdings in shares of S&T Bancorp by 2.3% during the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 13,646 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $573,000 after buying an additional 303 shares in the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of S&T Bancorp by 2.8% during the third quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 12,103 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $508,000 after buying an additional 326 shares in the last quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp grew its holdings in shares of S&T Bancorp by 1.3% during the first quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 33,461 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,073,000 after buying an additional 432 shares in the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its holdings in shares of S&T Bancorp by 2.6% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 19,436 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $649,000 after buying an additional 498 shares in the last quarter. 65.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About S&T Bancorp

S&T Bancorp, Inc operates as the bank holding company for S&T Bank that engages in the provision of retail and commercial banking products and services. The company operates through six segments: Commercial Real Estate, Commercial and Industrial, Commercial Construction, Business Banking, Consumer Real Estate, and Other Consumer.

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