ConnectOne Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:CNOB) Receives Consensus Rating of “Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of ConnectOne Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:CNOB) have been given an average rating of “Buy” by the five brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation and two have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $33.25.

CNOB has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings raised ConnectOne Bancorp from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on ConnectOne Bancorp from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Raymond James Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating and set a $34.00 price target on shares of ConnectOne Bancorp in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on ConnectOne Bancorp in a research report on Monday, March 16th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $31.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Hovde Group lifted their price objective on ConnectOne Bancorp from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th.

ConnectOne Bancorp Stock Down 0.3%

NASDAQ:CNOB opened at $29.77 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.21 and a beta of 1.06. ConnectOne Bancorp has a 1-year low of $21.79 and a 1-year high of $30.65. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $27.97 and its 200 day moving average price is $27.01.

ConnectOne Bancorp (NASDAQ:CNOB) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 10.17% and a net margin of 13.21%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that ConnectOne Bancorp will post 3.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ConnectOne Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.195 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 15th. This is a positive change from ConnectOne Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. This represents a $0.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. ConnectOne Bancorp’s payout ratio is 45.09%.

Institutional Trading of ConnectOne Bancorp

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in ConnectOne Bancorp by 1.0% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 922,378 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $24,692,000 after purchasing an additional 9,146 shares during the last quarter. Amundi acquired a new stake in ConnectOne Bancorp during the first quarter valued at $330,000. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its position in ConnectOne Bancorp by 8.2% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 20,430 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $547,000 after purchasing an additional 1,554 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in ConnectOne Bancorp by 5.0% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 223,051 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,971,000 after purchasing an additional 10,555 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP boosted its position in ConnectOne Bancorp by 17.2% during the first quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 54,692 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,464,000 after purchasing an additional 8,043 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.70% of the company’s stock.

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.