American Century Companies Inc. Reduces Position in ConnectOne Bancorp, Inc. $CNOB

American Century Companies Inc. trimmed its position in ConnectOne Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:CNOB) by 5.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 928,028 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 55,424 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned approximately 1.85% of ConnectOne Bancorp worth $23,024,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of CNOB. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in ConnectOne Bancorp by 33.1% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,160,058 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,870,000 after buying an additional 288,530 shares during the last quarter. Algebris UK Ltd. purchased a new stake in ConnectOne Bancorp during the 3rd quarter worth about $15,379,000. Stieven Capital Advisors L.P. lifted its holdings in ConnectOne Bancorp by 3.6% during the 2nd quarter. Stieven Capital Advisors L.P. now owns 542,067 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $12,554,000 after buying an additional 19,085 shares during the last quarter. Boothbay Fund Management LLC boosted its position in shares of ConnectOne Bancorp by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Boothbay Fund Management LLC now owns 431,477 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,993,000 after acquiring an additional 2,084 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of ConnectOne Bancorp by 39.8% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 340,974 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,897,000 after acquiring an additional 97,132 shares in the last quarter. 67.70% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on CNOB. Wall Street Zen downgraded ConnectOne Bancorp from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, January 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of ConnectOne Bancorp from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of ConnectOne Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Hovde Group dropped their target price on shares of ConnectOne Bancorp from $32.50 to $32.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, ConnectOne Bancorp currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $30.67.

ConnectOne Bancorp Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:CNOB opened at $25.71 on Tuesday. ConnectOne Bancorp, Inc. has a 1-year low of $20.61 and a 1-year high of $29.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The stock has a market cap of $1.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.14 and a beta of 1.13. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $27.13 and a 200 day moving average price of $25.96.

ConnectOne Bancorp (NASDAQ:CNOB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.09. ConnectOne Bancorp had a net margin of 11.83% and a return on equity of 9.33%. The company had revenue of $114.63 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $114.80 million. Sell-side analysts predict that ConnectOne Bancorp, Inc. will post 2.23 EPS for the current year.

ConnectOne Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, February 13th were given a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 13th. ConnectOne Bancorp’s payout ratio is 48.00%.

ConnectOne Bancorp Profile

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.