Trustmark Co. (NASDAQ:TRMK) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Trustmark Co. (NASDAQ:TRMK) saw a large growth in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 1,780,000 shares, a growth of 21.1% from the February 13th total of 1,470,000 shares. Currently, 3.2% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 289,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 6.2 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Trustmark

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of TRMK. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. acquired a new stake in Trustmark in the third quarter valued at approximately $248,000. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Trustmark in the third quarter valued at approximately $309,000. Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Trustmark in the third quarter valued at approximately $338,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its stake in Trustmark by 6.9% in the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 32,926 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,048,000 after acquiring an additional 2,137 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new stake in Trustmark in the third quarter valued at approximately $327,000. 67.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

TRMK has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. DA Davidson upped their target price on shares of Trustmark from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Janney Montgomery Scott initiated coverage on shares of Trustmark in a report on Friday, January 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $42.00 price target for the company. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Trustmark from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $38.67.

Trustmark Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:TRMK opened at $34.43 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $2.09 billion, a PE ratio of 9.46 and a beta of 0.71. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $35.95 and its 200-day simple moving average is $35.46. Trustmark has a one year low of $25.41 and a one year high of $40.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.87.

Trustmark (NASDAQ:TRMK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The financial services provider reported $0.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.83 by $0.09. Trustmark had a net margin of 19.42% and a return on equity of 10.12%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Trustmark will post 3.42 EPS for the current year.

Trustmark Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Saturday, March 1st were paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.79%. This is an increase from Trustmark’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. Trustmark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.37%.

Trustmark Company Profile

Trustmark Corporation operates as the bank holding company for Trustmark National Bank that provides banking and other financial solutions to individuals and corporate institutions in the United States. The company operates through three segments: General Banking, Wealth Management, and Insurance. It offers checking, savings, and money market accounts; certificates of deposits and individual retirement accounts; financing for commercial and industrial projects, income-producing commercial real estate, owner-occupied real estate, and construction and land development; and installment and real estate loans, and lines of credit, as well as treasury management services.