TriCo Bancshares (NASDAQ:TCBK) Short Interest Down 22.9% in August

TriCo Bancshares (NASDAQ:TCBK) was the target of a significant drop in short interest in August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 379,100 shares, a drop of 22.9% from the August 15th total of 491,400 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 129,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.9 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $48.00 price objective (up from $42.00) on shares of TriCo Bancshares in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Janney Montgomery Scott reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of TriCo Bancshares in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Stephens raised their price objective on TriCo Bancshares from $43.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on TriCo Bancshares from $47.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Finally, DA Davidson raised their target price on TriCo Bancshares from $41.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $49.80.

Insider Buying and Selling at TriCo Bancshares

In other TriCo Bancshares news, Director Michael W. Koehnen sold 1,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.20, for a total transaction of $63,280.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 3,000 shares in the company, valued at $135,600. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Director Cory W. Giese sold 3,465 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.11, for a total transaction of $149,376.15. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,228 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $484,039.08. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Michael W. Koehnen sold 1,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.20, for a total value of $63,280.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,000 shares in the company, valued at $135,600. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 4.64% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of TriCo Bancshares

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in TriCo Bancshares by 17.5% in the first quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 138,616 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,098,000 after buying an additional 20,629 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its holdings in shares of TriCo Bancshares by 200.3% during the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 24,384 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $897,000 after purchasing an additional 16,263 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of TriCo Bancshares by 58.5% during the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 98,469 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,622,000 after purchasing an additional 36,362 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in shares of TriCo Bancshares by 135.1% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 46,554 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,712,000 after purchasing an additional 26,751 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd purchased a new position in shares of TriCo Bancshares during the first quarter valued at approximately $489,000. 59.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

TriCo Bancshares Stock Up 3.1 %

NASDAQ TCBK opened at $43.16 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.42 billion, a PE ratio of 13.16 and a beta of 0.54. TriCo Bancshares has a 1 year low of $29.38 and a 1 year high of $48.80. The business’s 50-day moving average is $43.56 and its 200 day moving average is $38.68.

TriCo Bancshares (NASDAQ:TCBK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.87 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.07. TriCo Bancshares had a net margin of 21.63% and a return on equity of 9.93%. The business had revenue of $97.86 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $98.55 million. Sell-side analysts forecast that TriCo Bancshares will post 3.3 earnings per share for the current year.

TriCo Bancshares Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be issued a $0.33 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 6th. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.06%. TriCo Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.24%.

About TriCo Bancshares

TriCo Bancshares operates as a bank holding company for Tri Counties Bank that provides commercial banking services to individual and corporate customers. The company accepts demand, savings, and time deposits. It also provides small business loans; real estate mortgage loans, such as residential and commercial loans; consumer loans; mortgage, auto, other vehicle, and personal loans; commercial loans, including agricultural loans; and real estate construction loans.