FS Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSBW) Short Interest Up 21.9% in September

FS Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSBW) saw a significant growth in short interest during the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 38,900 shares, a growth of 21.9% from the September 15th total of 31,900 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 19,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.0 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in FSBW. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of FS Bancorp by 64.5% in the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 2,288 shares of the bank’s stock worth $79,000 after acquiring an additional 897 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of FS Bancorp in the third quarter worth $103,000. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of FS Bancorp by 4.3% in the first quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 7,734 shares of the bank’s stock worth $268,000 after acquiring an additional 320 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers increased its stake in shares of FS Bancorp by 4.4% in the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 10,197 shares of the bank’s stock worth $372,000 after acquiring an additional 434 shares during the period. Finally, Agate Pass Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of FS Bancorp in the second quarter worth $382,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 63.88% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on FSBW. StockNews.com raised shares of FS Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. DA Davidson increased their target price on shares of FS Bancorp from $34.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th.

FS Bancorp Trading Up 1.9 %

NASDAQ FSBW opened at $44.72 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $43.07 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $37.64. The stock has a market cap of $348.64 million, a P/E ratio of 9.76 and a beta of 0.93. FS Bancorp has a 12-month low of $28.07 and a 12-month high of $47.01. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81.

FS Bancorp (NASDAQ:FSBW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The bank reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.03 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $51.81 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $35.40 million. FS Bancorp had a net margin of 18.05% and a return on equity of 13.40%. On average, analysts forecast that FS Bancorp will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current year.

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.