Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for ConnectOne Bancorp (NASDAQ:CNOB) Stock

ConnectOne Bancorp (NASDAQ:CNOB) had its target price raised by investment analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $32.00 to $34.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “outperform” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ price objective indicates a potential upside of 19.21% from the company’s current price.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of ConnectOne Bancorp from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, January 10th. Hovde Group lifted their price objective on shares of ConnectOne Bancorp from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of ConnectOne Bancorp in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Piper Sandler assumed coverage on shares of ConnectOne Bancorp in a report on Monday, March 16th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $31.00 price objective on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $33.00.

ConnectOne Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of CNOB stock opened at $28.52 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04. The company has a market capitalization of $1.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.49 and a beta of 1.08. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $27.07 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $26.38. ConnectOne Bancorp has a 52 week low of $21.79 and a 52 week high of $29.50.

ConnectOne Bancorp (NASDAQ:CNOB) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.79 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.06. ConnectOne Bancorp had a net margin of 13.21% and a return on equity of 10.27%. The firm had revenue of $116.64 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $119.59 million. On average, analysts expect that ConnectOne Bancorp will post 3.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ConnectOne Bancorp

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CNOB. Clearstead Advisors LLC increased its holdings in ConnectOne Bancorp by 195.6% during the fourth quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 1,330 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 880 shares during the last quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. increased its holdings in ConnectOne Bancorp by 728.4% during the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 1,781 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 1,566 shares during the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue acquired a new position in ConnectOne Bancorp during the third quarter worth $48,000. State of Wyoming acquired a new position in ConnectOne Bancorp during the fourth quarter worth $73,000. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its holdings in ConnectOne Bancorp by 129.1% during the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 3,475 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $91,000 after buying an additional 1,958 shares during the last quarter. 67.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

More ConnectOne Bancorp News

Here are the key news stories impacting ConnectOne Bancorp this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Dividend increased — ConnectOne declared a quarterly common dividend of $0.195 (an 8.3% increase vs prior quarter), giving an attractive yield (~2.7%) and signaling management confidence in capital and earnings stability. GlobeNewswire: Q1 Results
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrades/price-target increases — Keefe, Bruyette & Woods and Hovde Group raised their price targets to $34 and kept “outperform” ratings, implying ~19% upside from current levels; that provides broker-supportive catalyst for buyers. Benzinga: KBW note
• Positive Sentiment: Underpinning fundamentals — Company reported wider net interest margin, ~10% annualized loan growth, accelerating operating performance and rising tangible book value per share in the Q1 release, supporting longer-term earnings prospects. GlobeNewswire: Key metrics
• Neutral Sentiment: Mixed earnings messaging — reported EPS figures are inconsistent across sources: the company/MarketBeat and some outlets reported $0.79 EPS (beating consensus ~$0.73), while an earnings-call transcript shows $0.72 (a slight miss). The mixed reporting creates short-term uncertainty until reconciled. MarketBeat: Q1 release InsiderMonkey: Call transcript
• Neutral Sentiment: Short-interest data appears unreliable — April short-interest entry reports 0 shares (likely a data/reporting error), so short-squeeze/cover dynamics are not a clear factor for today’s move.
• Negative Sentiment: Revenue miss — Q1 revenue came in at $116.6M versus analyst estimates near $119.6M, which could temper enthusiasm and is a likely driver of the intraday weakness despite solid EPS on one read. MarketBeat: Revenue details

About ConnectOne Bancorp

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.