USCB Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:USCB) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

USCB Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:USCB) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 138,500 shares, an increase of 139.2% from the March 15th total of 57,900 shares. Approximately 1.4% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 27,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.1 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On USCB Financial

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. BNP Paribas Financial Markets purchased a new stake in USCB Financial in the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. Wells Fargo & Company MN increased its position in shares of USCB Financial by 32.8% during the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 5,799 shares of the company’s stock valued at $103,000 after acquiring an additional 1,431 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp purchased a new stake in shares of USCB Financial during the third quarter valued at approximately $244,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in USCB Financial during the fourth quarter worth $332,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in USCB Financial by 228.4% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 19,686 shares of the company’s stock worth $300,000 after purchasing an additional 13,692 shares during the last quarter. 61.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

USCB Financial Stock Performance

NASDAQ USCB opened at $17.02 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $18.36 and a 200 day simple moving average of $17.94. USCB Financial has a 12-month low of $10.25 and a 12-month high of $21.86. The company has a market cap of $341.30 million, a P/E ratio of 13.84 and a beta of 0.65.

USCB Financial (NASDAQ:USCB) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by ($0.02). USCB Financial had a return on equity of 12.14% and a net margin of 17.14%. Sell-side analysts predict that USCB Financial will post 1.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

USCB Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 5th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were given a $0.10 dividend. This is a positive change from USCB Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.05. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.35%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. USCB Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.52%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Raymond James downgraded USCB Financial from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd.

USCB Financial Company Profile

USCB Financial Holdings, Inc operates as the bank holding company for U.S. Century Bank that engages in the provision of various personal and business banking products and services in the United States. It accepts various deposit products, including commercial and consumer checking, money market deposit, savings, and time deposit accounts, as well as certificates of deposit.