Short Interest in FS Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSBW) Decreases By 9.7%

FS Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSBW) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest during the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 40,200 shares, a decrease of 9.7% from the November 15th total of 44,500 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 17,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.3 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com lowered shares of FS Bancorp from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Barclays PLC increased its stake in FS Bancorp by 30.0% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 27,418 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,220,000 after buying an additional 6,331 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of FS Bancorp by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 154,911 shares of the bank’s stock worth $6,894,000 after purchasing an additional 2,215 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC increased its stake in shares of FS Bancorp by 43.9% during the 3rd quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 8,784 shares of the bank’s stock worth $391,000 after purchasing an additional 2,678 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of FS Bancorp by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 113,851 shares of the bank’s stock worth $5,065,000 after purchasing an additional 5,313 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of FS Bancorp by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 30,076 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,339,000 after purchasing an additional 597 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 63.88% of the company’s stock.

FS Bancorp Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:FSBW traded down $0.34 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $45.06. The stock had a trading volume of 14,524 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,275. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.06. The company has a market cap of $352.23 million, a PE ratio of 9.57 and a beta of 0.94. FS Bancorp has a 12-month low of $30.64 and a 12-month high of $49.15. The company’s 50 day moving average is $45.54 and its 200-day moving average is $41.86.

FS Bancorp (NASDAQ:FSBW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The bank reported $1.29 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $53.01 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $37.10 million. FS Bancorp had a net margin of 18.28% and a return on equity of 13.42%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that FS Bancorp will post 4.52 EPS for the current year.

FS Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 7th were paid a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 7th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.40%. FS Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.93%.

FS Bancorp Company Profile

FS Bancorp, Inc operates as a bank holding company for 1st Security Bank of Washington that provides banking and financial services to local families, local and regional businesses, and industry niches. The company operates in two segments, Commercial and Consumer Banking; and Home Lending. It offers various deposit instruments, including checking accounts, money market deposit accounts, savings accounts, and certificates of deposit.