TriCo Bancshares (NASDAQ:TCBK) Short Interest Up 23.3% in December

TriCo Bancshares (NASDAQ:TCBK - Get Free Report) saw a significant increase in short interest during the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 283,600 shares, an increase of 23.3% from the November 30th total of 230,100 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 113,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.5 days.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Cory W. Giese sold 5,100 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.47, for a total value of $252,297.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,128 shares of the company's stock, valued at $303,152.16. This represents a 45.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 4.64% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in TCBK. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in TriCo Bancshares by 3.5% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,502,992 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $59,471,000 after buying an additional 50,358 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of TriCo Bancshares by 0.7% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 781,650 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $33,344,000 after acquiring an additional 5,155 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of TriCo Bancshares by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 446,455 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $19,041,000 after purchasing an additional 25,817 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of TriCo Bancshares by 27.3% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 403,712 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $15,975,000 after purchasing an additional 86,689 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Curi RMB Capital LLC increased its position in TriCo Bancshares by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Curi RMB Capital LLC now owns 346,833 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $14,792,000 after purchasing an additional 5,314 shares in the last quarter. 59.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

TriCo Bancshares Price Performance

NASDAQ:TCBK traded down $0.52 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $44.03. 171,601 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 118,275. The company has a market capitalization of $1.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.10 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The business has a 50 day moving average of $46.39 and a 200 day moving average of $43.70. TriCo Bancshares has a 1-year low of $31.73 and a 1-year high of $51.06.

TriCo Bancshares (NASDAQ:TCBK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.88 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.06. TriCo Bancshares had a return on equity of 9.45% and a net margin of 21.12%. The company had revenue of $133.84 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $98.65 million. Research analysts forecast that TriCo Bancshares will post 3.38 EPS for the current year.

TriCo Bancshares Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th were issued a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.00%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. TriCo Bancshares's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.29%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on TCBK shares. DA Davidson cut TriCo Bancshares from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $50.00 to $53.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Stephens dropped their price target on TriCo Bancshares from $52.00 to $50.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on TriCo Bancshares from $53.00 to $50.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 28th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $48.20.

About TriCo Bancshares

TriCo Bancshares operates as a bank holding company for Tri Counties Bank that provides commercial banking services to individual and corporate customers. The company accepts demand, savings, and time deposits. It also provides small business loans; real estate mortgage loans, such as residential and commercial loans; consumer loans; mortgage, auto, other vehicle, and personal loans; commercial loans, including agricultural loans; and real estate construction loans.