Colony Bankcorp (NYSE:CBAN) Upgraded at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Colony Bankcorp (NYSE:CBAN) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report report published on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on CBAN. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Colony Bankcorp in a report on Friday, March 27th. Brean Capital upgraded shares of Colony Bankcorp from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 23rd. Hovde Group increased their price target on shares of Colony Bankcorp from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Colony Bankcorp from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, March 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and three have issued a Buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Colony Bankcorp currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $22.00.

Colony Bankcorp Stock Up 2.2%

Shares of NYSE CBAN opened at $21.25 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The business’s 50 day moving average is $20.11 and its two-hundred day moving average is $18.43. Colony Bankcorp has a 52-week low of $14.54 and a 52-week high of $21.61. The firm has a market cap of $449.80 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.36 and a beta of 0.61.

Colony Bankcorp (NYSE:CBAN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The company reported $0.48 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.02. Colony Bankcorp had a return on equity of 10.08% and a net margin of 14.85%.The business had revenue of $27.27 million during the quarter.

Colony Bankcorp Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 25th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 11th were issued a dividend of $0.12 per share. This is a positive change from Colony Bankcorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 11th. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. Colony Bankcorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.19%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Colony Bankcorp

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Fourthstone LLC increased its stake in shares of Colony Bankcorp by 165.9% during the fourth quarter. Fourthstone LLC now owns 1,711,213 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,494,000 after buying an additional 1,067,540 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Colony Bankcorp by 4.6% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 945,386 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,081,000 after acquiring an additional 41,879 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Colony Bankcorp by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 722,790 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,880,000 after acquiring an additional 14,092 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Colony Bankcorp by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 385,600 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,873,000 after acquiring an additional 3,734 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp grew its holdings in Colony Bankcorp by 7.4% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 318,829 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,682,000 after acquiring an additional 22,035 shares in the last quarter. 50.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Colony Bankcorp

Colony Bankcorp, Inc is a bank holding company headquartered in Baxley, Georgia, that operates through its primary subsidiary, The Colony Bank. The company’s core focus is on delivering community banking services tailored to individuals, small businesses and agricultural customers throughout Georgia and Florida. Colony Bankcorp’s structure supports a full suite of deposit and lending solutions designed to meet the needs of local markets.

The company offers a range of deposit products, including personal and business checking accounts, savings and money market accounts, and certificates of deposit.