ConnectOne Bancorp’s (CNOB) Outperform Rating Reiterated at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued their outperform rating on shares of ConnectOne Bancorp (NASDAQ:CNOB) in a research report report published on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $24.00 target price on the financial services provider’s stock, down from their previous target price of $27.00.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on CNOB. StockNews.com downgraded ConnectOne Bancorp from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Raymond James raised their price objective on ConnectOne Bancorp from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a strong-buy rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price objective on ConnectOne Bancorp from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $24.50.

ConnectOne Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CNOB opened at $18.30 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $19.16 and a 200 day moving average price of $20.09. ConnectOne Bancorp has a twelve month low of $13.11 and a twelve month high of $24.44. The company has a market cap of $701.49 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.68 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92.

ConnectOne Bancorp (NASDAQ:CNOB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.03. ConnectOne Bancorp had a return on equity of 7.41% and a net margin of 15.29%. The company had revenue of $66.03 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $65.50 million. Research analysts predict that ConnectOne Bancorp will post 1.75 earnings per share for the current year.

ConnectOne Bancorp Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be issued a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 14th. This is a boost from ConnectOne Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.93%. ConnectOne Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 38.10%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ConnectOne Bancorp

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of ConnectOne Bancorp by 27.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,500,507 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $62,414,000 after buying an additional 743,209 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of ConnectOne Bancorp by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,270,093 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $52,009,000 after buying an additional 58,277 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of ConnectOne Bancorp by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,045,578 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $36,473,000 after buying an additional 14,564 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in ConnectOne Bancorp by 10.3% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 438,198 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $10,039,000 after purchasing an additional 41,010 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC increased its holdings in ConnectOne Bancorp by 118.2% during the 4th quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC now owns 246,232 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,641,000 after purchasing an additional 133,384 shares in the last quarter. 67.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

ConnectOne Bancorp Company Profile

ConnectOne Bancorp, Inc operates as the bank holding company for ConnectOne Bank that provides commercial banking products and services for small and mid-sized businesses, local professionals, and individuals in the New York Metropolitan area and South Florida market. The company offers personal and business checking, money market, and time and savings accounts; credit cards, wire transfers, safe deposit boxes, automated teller services and telephone, and internet and mobile banking.