CNB Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:CCNE) Short Interest Update

CNB Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:CCNE) saw a large drop in short interest in March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 351,681 shares, a drop of 14.5% from the February 26th total of 411,345 shares. Currently, 1.2% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 115,989 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.0 days.

CNB Financial Stock Performance

CNB Financial stock traded up $0.41 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $29.01. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 63,755 shares, compared to its average volume of 162,298. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. CNB Financial has a twelve month low of $19.32 and a twelve month high of $30.84. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $28.30 and a 200-day moving average price of $26.51. The firm has a market cap of $859.86 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.93 and a beta of 0.71.

CNB Financial (NASDAQ:CCNE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 27th. The bank reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.10. CNB Financial had a net margin of 15.29% and a return on equity of 11.10%. The company had revenue of $87.16 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $73.10 million. Sell-side analysts predict that CNB Financial will post 2.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CNB Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 27th were given a dividend of $0.19 per share. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 27th. This is a positive change from CNB Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. CNB Financial’s payout ratio is currently 31.28%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CNB Financial

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CCNE. Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in shares of CNB Financial by 8.1% in the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 147,235 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,853,000 after acquiring an additional 10,988 shares during the period. XTX Topco Ltd bought a new position in CNB Financial in the 4th quarter worth about $202,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of CNB Financial by 38.2% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,592,950 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $67,858,000 after purchasing an additional 716,917 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of CNB Financial during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,017,000. Finally, Bridgeway Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of CNB Financial by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 250,081 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $6,545,000 after buying an additional 10,988 shares during the last quarter. 52.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CCNE has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of CNB Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 21st. Stephens lifted their price target on CNB Financial from $28.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded CNB Financial from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $32.00.

About CNB Financial

CNB Financial Corporation (NASDAQ: CCNE) is a bank holding company headquartered in Clearfield, Pennsylvania. The company operates through its wholly owned subsidiary, CNB Bank & Trust, providing a full suite of community banking services. With a focus on relationship-driven banking, CNB Financial seeks to serve individuals, small businesses and agricultural clients across central Pennsylvania.

The company’s core offerings include deposit products such as checking accounts, savings accounts, money market accounts and certificates of deposit.