LCNB Corp. (NASDAQ:LCNB) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

LCNB Corp. (NASDAQ:LCNB) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 75,800 shares, a decrease of 21.1% from the February 28th total of 96,100 shares. Currently, 0.6% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 21,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.6 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on LCNB. StockNews.com raised LCNB from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Hovde Group initiated coverage on shares of LCNB in a report on Friday, December 20th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $16.25 price objective on the stock.

LCNB Price Performance

Shares of LCNB opened at $14.97 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.91. LCNB has a 1-year low of $12.42 and a 1-year high of $17.92. The stock has a market cap of $211.95 million, a PE ratio of 15.43 and a beta of 0.79. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $15.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $15.53.

LCNB (NASDAQ:LCNB) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The bank reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.30 by $0.14. LCNB had a return on equity of 7.12% and a net margin of 10.76%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that LCNB will post 1.65 EPS for the current year.

LCNB Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.88%. LCNB’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 90.72%.

Institutional Trading of LCNB

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of LCNB. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in LCNB by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 423,891 shares of the bank’s stock worth $6,413,000 after purchasing an additional 22,315 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of LCNB by 7.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 299,492 shares of the bank’s stock worth $4,514,000 after buying an additional 19,687 shares during the period. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. grew its holdings in shares of LCNB by 15.2% during the fourth quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 157,783 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,387,000 after buying an additional 20,812 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in LCNB by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 153,579 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,314,000 after acquiring an additional 2,025 shares during the period. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its stake in LCNB by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 122,716 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,857,000 after acquiring an additional 7,500 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 34.73% of the company’s stock.

LCNB Company Profile

LCNB Corp. operates as the financial holding company for LCNB National Bank that provides banking services in Ohio. Its deposit products include checking accounts, demand deposits, savings accounts, NOW and money market deposits, as well as individual retirement accounts and time certificates. The company's loan products comprise commercial and industrial, commercial and residential real estate, agricultural, construction, and small business administration loans; and residential mortgage loans that consists of loans for purchasing or refinancing personal residences, home equity lines of credit, and loans for commercial or consumer purposes secured by residential mortgages.