Aristides Capital LLC Boosts Holdings in FS Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSBW)

Aristides Capital LLC increased its holdings in FS Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSBW) by 16.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 31,691 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,408 shares during the period. Aristides Capital LLC’s holdings in FS Bancorp were worth $1,301,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in FS Bancorp by 18.6% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 2,756 shares of the bank’s stock worth $113,000 after purchasing an additional 433 shares during the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN increased its holdings in shares of FS Bancorp by 27.8% in the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 3,909 shares of the bank’s stock worth $161,000 after buying an additional 851 shares during the period. Bailard Inc. bought a new stake in shares of FS Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at about $257,000. Jane Street Group LLC boosted its holdings in FS Bancorp by 43.9% during the 3rd quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 8,784 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $391,000 after acquiring an additional 2,678 shares during the period. Finally, Angel Oak Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in FS Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth approximately $739,000. Institutional investors own 63.88% of the company’s stock.

FS Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of FSBW stock opened at $36.27 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $281.56 million, a P/E ratio of 8.24 and a beta of 0.78. FS Bancorp, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $30.64 and a fifty-two week high of $49.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.06. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $38.53 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $42.01.

FS Bancorp (NASDAQ:FSBW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The bank reported $0.92 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.04 by ($0.12). FS Bancorp had a net margin of 16.97% and a return on equity of 12.35%. Analysts expect that FS Bancorp, Inc. will post 4.26 earnings per share for the current year.

FS Bancorp Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 6th were issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 6th. This is an increase from FS Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. FS Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 25.45%.

About FS Bancorp

FS Bancorp, Inc operates as a bank holding company for 1st Security Bank of Washington that provides banking and financial services to local families, local and regional businesses, and industry niches. The company operates in two segments, Commercial and Consumer Banking; and Home Lending. It offers various deposit instruments, including checking accounts, money market deposit accounts, savings accounts, and certificates of deposit.