Short Interest in Western New England Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:WNEB) Grows By 61.1%

Western New England Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:WNEB) was the target of a significant growth in short interest during the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 67,000 shares, a growth of 61.1% from the November 15th total of 41,600 shares. Approximately 0.4% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 36,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.8 days.

Western New England Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of WNEB stock opened at $9.71 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $8.93 and a 200-day moving average price of $8.15. Western New England Bancorp has a 52 week low of $6.00 and a 52 week high of $9.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $204.10 million, a PE ratio of 18.67 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62.

Western New England Bancorp (NASDAQ:WNEB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.09 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.10 by ($0.01). Western New England Bancorp had a return on equity of 4.58% and a net margin of 9.05%. The company had revenue of $30.98 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.39 million. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Western New England Bancorp will post 0.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Western New England Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, November 7th were given a dividend of $0.07 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 7th. This represents a $0.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.88%. Western New England Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 53.85%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Darlene M. Libiszewski sold 5,000 shares of Western New England Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.18, for a total value of $45,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 16,020 shares in the company, valued at $147,063.60. The trade was a 23.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 5.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Western New England Bancorp

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WNEB. Legato Capital Management LLC grew its position in Western New England Bancorp by 39.0% during the second quarter. Legato Capital Management LLC now owns 21,441 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $148,000 after buying an additional 6,021 shares during the period. Panagora Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Western New England Bancorp during the second quarter valued at approximately $170,000. Barclays PLC grew its position in Western New England Bancorp by 23.8% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 44,422 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $378,000 after buying an additional 8,532 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in Western New England Bancorp by 48.8% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 49,236 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $419,000 after buying an additional 16,158 shares during the period. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in Western New England Bancorp by 5.3% during the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 79,545 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $676,000 after buying an additional 4,020 shares during the period. 67.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Western New England Bancorp Company Profile

Western New England Bancorp, Inc operates as the holding company for Westfield Bank that provides a range of commercial and retail banking products and services to individuals and businesses. The company accepts various deposit accounts, including interest-bearing and noninterest-bearing checking, commercial checking, business, nonprofit and municipal checking, savings, money market and sweep, individual retirement, and other savings accounts; time deposits; certificates of deposit; and interest on lawyer's trust accounts.