Gator Capital Management LLC Grows Stock Position in ConnectOne Bancorp, Inc. $CNOB

Gator Capital Management LLC increased its stake in ConnectOne Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:CNOB) by 8.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 306,247 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 24,182 shares during the period. ConnectOne Bancorp comprises about 1.9% of Gator Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 20th largest holding. Gator Capital Management LLC’s holdings in ConnectOne Bancorp were worth $7,598,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Osaic Holdings Inc. grew its position in ConnectOne Bancorp by 728.4% during the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 1,781 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 1,566 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its position in ConnectOne Bancorp by 107.9% in the second quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,842 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 956 shares during the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue bought a new stake in ConnectOne Bancorp in the third quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. boosted its stake in shares of ConnectOne Bancorp by 28.8% during the second quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 4,746 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $110,000 after purchasing an additional 1,061 shares during the period. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of ConnectOne Bancorp by 791.0% during the third quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 4,553 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $113,000 after purchasing an additional 4,042 shares during the period. 67.70% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

ConnectOne Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CNOB opened at $25.43 on Friday. ConnectOne Bancorp, Inc. has a 1 year low of $20.61 and a 1 year high of $29.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The company’s 50-day moving average is $27.09 and its 200 day moving average is $25.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.95 and a beta of 1.13.

ConnectOne Bancorp (NASDAQ:CNOB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.09. ConnectOne Bancorp had a net margin of 11.83% and a return on equity of 9.33%. The business had revenue of $114.63 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $114.80 million. On average, sell-side analysts expect that ConnectOne Bancorp, Inc. will post 2.23 earnings per share for the current year.

ConnectOne Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 13th were given a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 13th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. ConnectOne Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on CNOB shares. Hovde Group cut their target price on shares of ConnectOne Bancorp from $32.50 to $32.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 30th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of ConnectOne Bancorp in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Wall Street Zen cut shares of ConnectOne Bancorp from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 10th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of ConnectOne Bancorp from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $30.67.

ConnectOne Bancorp Profile

ConnectOne Bancorp is a New Jersey?based bank holding company whose primary subsidiary, ConnectOne Bank, offers a suite of commercial banking services to small and medium?sized businesses, professionals and individuals. Established in 2005 and headquartered in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, the company seeks to deliver customized lending and deposit solutions through a network of branches across northern New Jersey and the New York metropolitan area.

The company’s lending portfolio centers on commercial real estate financing, construction lending, owner?occupied real estate loans and working capital lines of credit.