AmeriServ Financial Inc. (NASDAQ:ASRV) Short Interest Update

AmeriServ Financial Inc. (NASDAQ:ASRV) was the target of a large increase in short interest during the month of July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totaling 206,424 shares, an increase of 155.5% from the July 15th total of 80,806 shares. Approximately 1.3% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 25,128 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 8.2 days.

AmeriServ Financial Trading Up 0.8%

AmeriServ Financial stock opened at $5.01 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $84.97 million, a P/E ratio of 9.82 and a beta of 0.43. AmeriServ Financial has a 1 year low of $2.80 and a 1 year high of $5.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $4.09 and its 200-day moving average price is $3.86.

AmeriServ Financial (NASDAQ:ASRV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 21st. The financial services provider reported $0.16 earnings per share for the quarter. AmeriServ Financial had a return on equity of 7.21% and a net margin of 9.51%.The firm had revenue of $15.90 million during the quarter.

AmeriServ Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 3rd will be paid a $0.03 dividend. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 3rd. AmeriServ Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.53%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AmeriServ Financial

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ASRV. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in AmeriServ Financial by 4.5% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 101,212 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $246,000 after purchasing an additional 4,396 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of AmeriServ Financial by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 142,798 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $456,000 after acquiring an additional 2,830 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of AmeriServ Financial during the second quarter valued at approximately $587,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 31.52% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Weiss Ratings upgraded AmeriServ Financial from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, AmeriServ Financial currently has an average rating of “Buy”.

About AmeriServ Financial

AmeriServ Financial, Inc is a holding company, which engages in the provision of consumer, mortgage and commercial financial products and services through its subsidiary. It operates through the following segments: Community Banking, Wealth Management, and Investment or Parent. The Community Banking segment includes both retail and commercial banking activities. The Wealth Management segment involves in the operations of a Trust Company, West Chester Capital Advisors an investment advisory firm, and Financial Services.