Colony Bankcorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBAN) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Colony Bankcorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBAN) saw a significant growth in short interest in December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 84,300 shares, a growth of 12.0% from the November 30th total of 75,300 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 34,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.4 days.

Institutional Trading of Colony Bankcorp

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new stake in Colony Bankcorp during the second quarter worth $139,000. Ritholtz Wealth Management boosted its stake in Colony Bankcorp by 8.9% in the second quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 26,753 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $328,000 after buying an additional 2,193 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Colony Bankcorp by 137.0% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 28,103 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $436,000 after acquiring an additional 16,246 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Colony Bankcorp by 5.2% in the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 35,478 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $551,000 after acquiring an additional 1,742 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Colony Bankcorp by 116.1% in the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 37,285 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $579,000 after purchasing an additional 20,031 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 50.37% of the company’s stock.

Colony Bankcorp Price Performance

NASDAQ:CBAN traded up $0.08 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $16.33. 11,881 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 41,076. The company has a market capitalization of $286.22 million, a P/E ratio of 13.06 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The business has a 50 day moving average of $16.67 and a 200 day moving average of $14.97. Colony Bankcorp has a 1-year low of $10.33 and a 1-year high of $18.49.

Colony Bankcorp (NASDAQ:CBAN) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.01. Colony Bankcorp had a return on equity of 8.86% and a net margin of 12.75%. The company had revenue of $44.69 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $28.67 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.34 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Colony Bankcorp will post 1.38 EPS for the current year.

Colony Bankcorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 6th were given a $0.112 dividend. This represents a $0.45 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.74%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 6th. Colony Bankcorp’s payout ratio is presently 36.00%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com lowered shares of Colony Bankcorp from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th.

Colony Bankcorp Company Profile

Colony Bankcorp, Inc operates as the bank holding company for Colony Bank that provides various banking products and services to commercial and consumer customers. The company offers deposit products, including demand, savings, and time deposits. It also provides loans to small and medium-sized businesses; residential and commercial construction, and land development loans; commercial real estate loans; commercial loans; agri-business and production loans; residential mortgage loans; home equity loans; and consumer loans.