ConnectOne Bancorp (NASDAQ:CNOB) Hits New 1-Year High – Here’s Why

ConnectOne Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:CNOB) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $32.38 and last traded at $31.95, with a volume of 460658 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $31.70.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CNOB has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Hovde Group boosted their price target on shares of ConnectOne Bancorp from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Raymond James Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $34.00 price target on shares of ConnectOne Bancorp in a report on Monday, April 27th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of ConnectOne Bancorp from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Piper Sandler initiated coverage on shares of ConnectOne Bancorp in a report on Monday, March 16th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $31.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of ConnectOne Bancorp from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and three have assigned a Buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, ConnectOne Bancorp currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $33.25.

ConnectOne Bancorp Trading Up 0.8%

The stock has a market cap of $1.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.47 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 0.97. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $29.19 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $27.63.

ConnectOne Bancorp (NASDAQ:CNOB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $116.64 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $119.59 million. ConnectOne Bancorp had a net margin of 13.21% and a return on equity of 10.17%. Research analysts expect that ConnectOne Bancorp, Inc. will post 3.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ConnectOne Bancorp Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th were given a $0.195 dividend. This is a positive change from ConnectOne Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. This represents a $0.78 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 15th. ConnectOne Bancorp’s payout ratio is presently 45.09%.

Institutional Trading of ConnectOne Bancorp

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in ConnectOne Bancorp by 1.0% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 922,378 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $24,692,000 after acquiring an additional 9,146 shares in the last quarter. Amundi bought a new stake in ConnectOne Bancorp in the first quarter worth approximately $330,000. Royal Bank of Canada grew its position in ConnectOne Bancorp by 8.2% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 20,430 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $547,000 after acquiring an additional 1,554 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in ConnectOne Bancorp by 5.0% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 223,051 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,971,000 after acquiring an additional 10,555 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP grew its position in ConnectOne Bancorp by 17.2% in the first quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 54,692 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,464,000 after acquiring an additional 8,043 shares in the last quarter. 67.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

ConnectOne Bancorp Company Profile

ConnectOne Bancorp is a New Jersey‐based bank holding company whose primary subsidiary, ConnectOne Bank, offers a suite of commercial banking services to small and medium‐sized businesses, professionals and individuals. Established in 2005 and headquartered in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, the company seeks to deliver customized lending and deposit solutions through a network of branches across northern New Jersey and the New York metropolitan area.

The company’s lending portfolio centers on commercial real estate financing, construction lending, owner‐occupied real estate loans and working capital lines of credit.