StockNews.com Upgrades FS Bancorp (NASDAQ:FSBW) to “Buy”

FS Bancorp (NASDAQ:FSBW) was upgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report released on Tuesday.

FS Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of FSBW stock opened at $31.38 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $32.89 and a 200 day moving average price of $33.07. The company has a market cap of $245.08 million, a P/E ratio of 6.88 and a beta of 0.92. FS Bancorp has a 12 month low of $26.08 and a 12 month high of $38.70.

FS Bancorp (NASDAQ:FSBW) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The bank reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by $0.21. FS Bancorp had a net margin of 19.21% and a return on equity of 15.16%. The firm had revenue of $35.91 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.80 million. Sell-side analysts predict that FS Bancorp will post 4.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On FS Bancorp

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. TCW Group Inc. lifted its position in FS Bancorp by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 284,519 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $10,516,000 after acquiring an additional 2,540 shares during the last quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in FS Bancorp by 9.6% in the fourth quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 16,338 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $604,000 after acquiring an additional 1,436 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its position in FS Bancorp by 45.2% in the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 10,120 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $374,000 after acquiring an additional 3,152 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in FS Bancorp in the fourth quarter valued at $119,000. Finally, O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC lifted its position in FS Bancorp by 5.2% in the third quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 7,862 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $232,000 after acquiring an additional 389 shares during the last quarter. 63.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

FS Bancorp Company Profile

FS Bancorp, Inc operates as a bank holding company for 1st Security Bank of Washington that provides banking and financial services to local families, local and regional businesses, and industry niches. The company operates in two segments, Commercial and Consumer Banking; and Home Lending. It offers various deposit instruments, including checking accounts, money market deposit accounts, savings accounts, and certificates of deposit.