Short Interest in SB Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SBFG) Increases By 46.4%

SB Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SBFG) saw a large growth in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 116,500 shares, a growth of 46.4% from the February 13th total of 79,600 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 24,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.8 days. Approximately 2.0% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of SBFG. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC boosted its position in SB Financial Group by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 75,127 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,571,000 after purchasing an additional 1,875 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC acquired a new position in SB Financial Group in the fourth quarter worth about $208,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of SB Financial Group by 41.5% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 25,108 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $525,000 after buying an additional 7,370 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of SB Financial Group by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 164,832 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,447,000 after buying an additional 5,137 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in SB Financial Group by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 71,749 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,501,000 after buying an additional 673 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.67% of the company’s stock.

SB Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:SBFG opened at $19.82 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $129.52 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.52 and a beta of 0.80. SB Financial Group has a 1 year low of $13.01 and a 1 year high of $24.48. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $21.40 and a 200 day simple moving average of $20.48.

SB Financial Group (NASDAQ:SBFG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.11. SB Financial Group had a return on equity of 8.98% and a net margin of 14.10%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that SB Financial Group will post 2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SB Financial Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a $0.145 dividend. This represents a $0.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. SB Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.72%.

About SB Financial Group

SB Financial Group, Inc operates as the financial holding company for the State Bank and Trust Company that provides a range of commercial banking and wealth management services to individual and corporate customers primarily in Ohio, Indiana, and Michigan. It offers checking, savings, money market accounts, as well as time certificates of deposit; and commercial, consumer, agricultural, and residential mortgage loans.