Union Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:UNB) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Union Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:UNB - Get Free Report) was the target of a large increase in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 35,700 shares, an increase of 183.3% from the December 15th total of 12,600 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 8,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.2 days. Approximately 1.0% of the company's shares are short sold.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Union Bankshares by 10.4% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 30,924 shares of the bank's stock worth $664,000 after buying an additional 2,914 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its position in shares of Union Bankshares by 7.7% in the 2nd 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 during the last quarter. Cardinal Capital Management raised its holdings in shares of Union Bankshares by 15.1% in the 3rd 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 purchased a new stake in shares of Union Bankshares during the 3rd quarter worth $220,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Union Bankshares by 3.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 40,503 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,050,000 after purchasing an additional 1,188 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 14.84% of the company's stock.

Union Bankshares Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of Union Bankshares stock traded down $0.08 on Tuesday, reaching $29.12. The company had a trading volume of 13,377 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,322. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.83. The firm has a market cap of $131.77 million, a PE ratio of 14.93 and a beta of 0.80. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $31.57 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $27.49. Union Bankshares has a 52-week low of $21.00 and a 52-week high of $37.70.

Union Bankshares (NASDAQ:UNB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The bank reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter. Union Bankshares had a return on equity of 13.14% and a net margin of 11.74%.

Union Bankshares Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 7th. Stockholders of record on Saturday, October 26th were given a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 25th. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.95%. Union Bankshares's dividend payout ratio is presently 73.85%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com cut Union Bankshares from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Monday.

About Union Bankshares

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.