J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. Makes New Investment in Bar Harbor Bankshares (NYSEAMERICAN:BHB)

J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Bar Harbor Bankshares (NYSEAMERICAN:BHB) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 14,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $435,000. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. owned 0.10% of Bar Harbor Bankshares at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BHB. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Bar Harbor Bankshares by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 734,214 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $17,349,000 after purchasing an additional 9,802 shares in the last quarter. Punch & Associates Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Bar Harbor Bankshares by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Punch & Associates Investment Management Inc. now owns 379,439 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,966,000 after purchasing an additional 3,226 shares in the last quarter. North Star Investment Management Corp. boosted its holdings in shares of Bar Harbor Bankshares by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. North Star Investment Management Corp. now owns 130,080 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,819,000 after purchasing an additional 960 shares in the last quarter. Naples Global Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Bar Harbor Bankshares by 6.1% in the 4th quarter. Naples Global Advisors LLC now owns 40,783 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,197,000 after purchasing an additional 2,332 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Bar Harbor Bankshares by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 33,300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $787,000 after acquiring an additional 800 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 54.49% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on BHB. TheStreet downgraded Bar Harbor Bankshares from a “b” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Monday, March 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $28.00 price objective (down previously from $29.00) on shares of Bar Harbor Bankshares in a report on Monday.

Bar Harbor Bankshares Price Performance

BHB stock opened at $25.33 on Wednesday. Bar Harbor Bankshares has a 1-year low of $19.55 and a 1-year high of $30.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $384.76 million, a PE ratio of 9.21 and a beta of 0.74.

Bar Harbor Bankshares (NYSEAMERICAN:BHB) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The financial services provider reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.01. Bar Harbor Bankshares had a return on equity of 10.17% and a net margin of 19.51%. The business had revenue of $36.64 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $37.10 million. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Bar Harbor Bankshares will post 2.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Bar Harbor Bankshares Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 16th will be given a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.74%. This is a positive change from Bar Harbor Bankshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 15th. Bar Harbor Bankshares’s payout ratio is presently 40.73%.

Bar Harbor Bankshares Profile

Bar Harbor Bankshares operates as the holding company for Bar Harbor Bank & Trust that provides banking and nonbanking products and services primarily to consumers and businesses. It accepts various deposit products, including interest-bearing and non-interest-bearing demand accounts, savings accounts, time deposits, and money market deposit accounts, as well as certificates of deposit.