Empowered Funds LLC Buys Shares of 207,116 ConnectOne Bancorp, Inc. $CNOB

Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new stake in ConnectOne Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:CNOB) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm purchased 207,116 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $6,926,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in CNOB. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new stake in shares of ConnectOne Bancorp in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,040,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC acquired a new stake in ConnectOne Bancorp in the first quarter valued at approximately $983,000. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in ConnectOne Bancorp in the second quarter worth $159,462,000. Kestra Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of ConnectOne Bancorp by 226.6% during the first quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 97,663 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,614,000 after purchasing an additional 67,761 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new position in shares of ConnectOne Bancorp during the second quarter worth $1,615,000. 67.70% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

ConnectOne Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of CNOB opened at $31.73 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $32.77 and its 200-day moving average price is $29.98. ConnectOne Bancorp, Inc. has a 1-year low of $23.20 and a 1-year high of $34.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.60 billion, a PE ratio of 10.40 and a beta of 1.05.

ConnectOne Bancorp (NASDAQ:CNOB) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.02. ConnectOne Bancorp had a return on equity of 11.24% and a net margin of 20.21%.The company had revenue of $121.57 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $121.55 million. On average, equities research analysts predict that ConnectOne Bancorp, Inc. will post 3.37 EPS for the current year.

ConnectOne Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 14th will be paid a $0.195 dividend. This represents a $0.78 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 14th. ConnectOne Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.57%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on CNOB. Piper Sandler upped their target price on ConnectOne Bancorp from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Raymond James Financial reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of ConnectOne Bancorp in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of ConnectOne Bancorp in a research report on Monday, August 17th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, ConnectOne Bancorp presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $35.00.

About ConnectOne Bancorp

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.