StockNews.com Upgrades Colony Bankcorp (NASDAQ:CBAN) to “Buy”

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Colony Bankcorp (NASDAQ:CBAN) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report released on Thursday morning.

Colony Bankcorp Price Performance

Colony Bankcorp stock opened at $17.62 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $15.90 and a 200-day moving average price of $14.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $308.88 million, a PE ratio of 14.10 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. Colony Bankcorp has a 12-month low of $10.33 and a 12-month high of $18.42.

Colony Bankcorp (NASDAQ:CBAN) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $44.69 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $28.67 million. Colony Bankcorp had a net margin of 12.75% and a return on equity of 8.86%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.34 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Colony Bankcorp will post 1.38 EPS for the current year.

Colony Bankcorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 6th were issued a $0.112 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 6th. This represents a $0.45 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.54%. Colony Bankcorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.00%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Colony Bankcorp

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in Colony Bankcorp by 49.5% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 54,484 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $845,000 after buying an additional 18,048 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Colony Bankcorp by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 363,547 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,643,000 after buying an additional 7,740 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Colony Bankcorp by 7.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 253,507 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,934,000 after buying an additional 17,865 shares in the last quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P lifted its holdings in Colony Bankcorp by 38.2% during the 3rd quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P now owns 47,490 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $737,000 after buying an additional 13,119 shares in the last quarter. Finally, De Lisle Partners LLP lifted its holdings in Colony Bankcorp by 105.8% during the 3rd quarter. De Lisle Partners LLP now owns 68,087 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,058,000 after buying an additional 35,000 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 50.37% of the company’s stock.

About Colony Bankcorp

Colony Bankcorp, Inc operates as the bank holding company for Colony Bank that provides various banking products and services to commercial and consumer customers. The company offers deposit products, including demand, savings, and time deposits. It also provides loans to small and medium-sized businesses; residential and commercial construction, and land development loans; commercial real estate loans; commercial loans; agri-business and production loans; residential mortgage loans; home equity loans; and consumer loans.