Short Interest in Erste Group Bank AG (OTCMKTS:EBKDY) Grows By 44.0%

Erste Group Bank AG (OTCMKTS:EBKDY) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totaling 45,196 shares, a growth of 44.0% from the December 15th total of 31,390 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 87,303 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 0.5 days. Approximately 0.0% of the shares of the company are short sold. Approximately 0.0% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 87,303 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 0.5 days.

Erste Group Bank Stock Performance

Shares of EBKDY stock opened at $61.19 on Monday. Erste Group Bank has a 12-month low of $29.50 and a 12-month high of $62.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 0.15 and a quick ratio of 0.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $50.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 0.85. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $57.12 and a 200 day simple moving average of $51.24.

Erste Group Bank (OTCMKTS:EBKDY) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 31st. The financial services provider reported $1.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.19. Erste Group Bank had a return on equity of 9.85% and a net margin of 17.36%.The company had revenue of $3.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.30 billion. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Erste Group Bank will post 4.05 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EBKDY has been the topic of several research reports. Barclays upgraded shares of Erste Group Bank from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 2nd. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Erste Group Bank in a research report on Monday, November 24th. Oddo Bhf downgraded Erste Group Bank to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, November 6th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating on shares of Erste Group Bank in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy”.

About Erste Group Bank

Erste Group Bank AG is an Austrian banking group headquartered in Vienna that operates as a universal bank serving retail, corporate and institutional customers. The group offers a broad range of financial services including deposit-taking, lending, mortgage financing, payment and transaction banking, and wealth management. Erste Group also provides capital markets services, corporate and investment banking solutions, and a range of insurance and pension-linked products through partnerships and subsidiary operations.

Erste Group maintains a significant regional presence beyond Austria, with operations across several Central and Eastern European countries.