CNB Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:CCNE) Short Interest Update

CNB Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:CCNE) was the target of a large growth in short interest in February. As of February 27th, there was short interest totaling 411,345 shares, a growth of 42.1% from the February 12th total of 289,569 shares. Approximately 1.4% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 148,916 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.8 days. Based on an average trading volume of 148,916 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.8 days. Approximately 1.4% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CCNE. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of CNB Financial by 201.7% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 43,890 shares of the bank’s stock worth $977,000 after buying an additional 29,343 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its holdings in CNB Financial by 4.7% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 12,271 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $273,000 after buying an additional 546 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in CNB Financial by 7.4% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 77,776 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,731,000 after acquiring an additional 5,370 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC acquired a new stake in CNB Financial during the 1st quarter worth $714,000. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of CNB Financial by 104.6% during the 2nd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 20,520 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $469,000 after acquiring an additional 10,490 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 52.35% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Stephens raised their price target on CNB Financial from $28.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Wall Street Zen upgraded CNB Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 21st. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised CNB Financial from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, CNB Financial has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $32.00.

CNB Financial Trading Up 0.1%

NASDAQ:CCNE traded up $0.04 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $27.13. 140,781 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 132,837. The company has a market capitalization of $799.79 million, a P/E ratio of 11.16 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The company’s 50 day moving average is $27.96 and its two-hundred day moving average is $26.37. CNB Financial has a twelve month low of $19.32 and a twelve month high of $30.84.

CNB Financial (NASDAQ:CCNE) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 27th. The bank reported $0.87 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.10. CNB Financial had a return on equity of 11.83% and a net margin of 15.29%.The company had revenue of $87.16 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $73.10 million. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that CNB Financial will post 2.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CNB Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 27th were issued a dividend of $0.19 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 27th. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. This is an increase from CNB Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. CNB Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.28%.

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.