KBC Group NV (OTCMKTS:KBCSY) Short Interest Up 87.5% in March

KBC Group NV (OTCMKTS:KBCSY) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 33,000 shares, an increase of 87.5% from the February 28th total of 17,600 shares. Approximately 0.0% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 45,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 0.7 days.

KBC Group Price Performance

Shares of KBCSY opened at $46.03 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $42.83 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $39.42. KBC Group has a one year low of $33.98 and a one year high of $47.89. The company has a market cap of $38.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.10.

KBC Group (OTCMKTS:KBCSY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.26 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $3.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.96 billion. KBC Group had a return on equity of 14.40% and a net margin of 13.32%. On average, analysts expect that KBC Group will post 4.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KBCSY has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays upgraded KBC Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 17th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of KBC Group in a report on Friday, March 7th.

About KBC Group

KBC Group NV, together with its subsidiaries, provides integrated bank-insurance services primarily for retail, private banking, small and medium sized enterprises, and mid-cap clients. The company offers demand deposits and savings accounts; home and mortgage loans; consumer finance and SME funding services; credit, investment fund and asset management, and life and non-life insurance; and cash management, payments, trade finance, lease, money market, capital market products, and stockbroking services.