Sound Financial Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFBC) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Sound Financial Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFBC) was the target of a large growth in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 72,430 shares, a growth of 56.5% from the March 15th total of 46,268 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 15,340 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.7 days. Approximately 3.2% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on SFBC. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Sound Financial Bancorp in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Wall Street Zen raised Sound Financial Bancorp to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to MarketBeat, Sound Financial Bancorp currently has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sound Financial Bancorp

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its position in Sound Financial Bancorp by 168.3% in the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,387 shares of the bank’s stock worth $61,000 after acquiring an additional 870 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its stake in shares of Sound Financial Bancorp by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 4,402 shares of the bank’s stock worth $192,000 after purchasing an additional 354 shares during the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN grew its stake in shares of Sound Financial Bancorp by 40.6% in the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 2,628 shares of the bank’s stock worth $115,000 after purchasing an additional 759 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sound Financial Bancorp in the 4th quarter worth approximately $271,000. Finally, Graham Capital Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Sound Financial Bancorp by 275.4% in the 4th quarter. Graham Capital Wealth Management LLC now owns 90,346 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,942,000 after purchasing an additional 66,280 shares in the last quarter. 68.85% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Sound Financial Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of Sound Financial Bancorp stock traded up $1.63 on Wednesday, hitting $46.82. The company had a trading volume of 10,847 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,852. Sound Financial Bancorp has a 52 week low of $40.68 and a 52 week high of $51.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.09. The company has a market cap of $120.33 million, a PE ratio of 16.90 and a beta of 0.05. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $43.22 and a 200-day simple moving average of $44.06.

Sound Financial Bancorp (NASDAQ:SFBC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 27th. The bank reported $0.87 earnings per share for the quarter. Sound Financial Bancorp had a return on equity of 6.70% and a net margin of 11.64%.The firm had revenue of $9.53 million during the quarter.

Sound Financial Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, February 9th were paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. This is an increase from Sound Financial Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.19. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 9th. Sound Financial Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.32%.

Sound Financial Bancorp Company Profile

Sound Financial Bancorp, Inc is a bank holding company and the parent of Sound Community Bank, a community?oriented financial institution headquartered in University Place, Washington. Through its subsidiary, the company delivers a broad array of banking and financial services to individuals, small businesses and commercial clients throughout the Puget Sound region. Emphasizing relationship banking, Sound Financial Bancorp seeks to support local economic development by offering personalized service and community engagement.

The company’s core offerings include deposit products such as checking and savings accounts, money market accounts and certificates of deposit, as well as a full spectrum of lending solutions.