TriCo Bancshares (NASDAQ:TCBK) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

TriCo Bancshares (NASDAQ:TCBK) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest during the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 379,900 shares, a growth of 23.9% from the May 31st total of 306,700 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 103,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.7 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded TriCo Bancshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $42.00.

TriCo Bancshares Price Performance

Shares of TCBK opened at $39.57 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $1.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.06 and a beta of 0.56. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $37.01 and a 200-day moving average of $36.95. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. TriCo Bancshares has a 52 week low of $29.38 and a 52 week high of $45.84.

TriCo Bancshares (NASDAQ:TCBK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.02. TriCo Bancshares had a return on equity of 9.75% and a net margin of 21.25%. The business had revenue of $131.19 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $99.50 million. As a group, analysts forecast that TriCo Bancshares will post 3.21 EPS for the current year.

TriCo Bancshares Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 21st. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th were given a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 7th. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.34%. TriCo Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is currently 40.24%.

Insider Buying and Selling at TriCo Bancshares

In other news, EVP Craig B. Carney sold 757 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.00, for a total value of $28,766.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 32,325 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,228,350. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 4.64% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Eagle Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in TriCo Bancshares during the 4th quarter valued at $8,000,000. Sweeney & Michel LLC bought a new stake in shares of TriCo Bancshares in the 1st quarter worth $5,015,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of TriCo Bancshares by 6.0% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,526,919 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $65,612,000 after buying an additional 86,141 shares in the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group raised its stake in shares of TriCo Bancshares by 37.6% in the 3rd quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 282,820 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,059,000 after buying an additional 77,221 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of TriCo Bancshares by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,414,921 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $60,801,000 after buying an additional 64,815 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 59.11% of the company’s stock.

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.