S&T Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:STBA) Short Interest Down 18.8% in October

S&T Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:STBA) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 788,100 shares, a decline of 18.8% from the October 15th total of 970,100 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 152,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 5.2 days. Currently, 2.1% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Frank J. Palermo, Jr. sold 4,982 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.21, for a total value of $215,272.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 23,143 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,000,009.03. The trade was a 17.71 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 1.38% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On S&T Bancorp

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of STBA. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its holdings in S&T Bancorp by 74.9% in the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 18,926 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $607,000 after purchasing an additional 8,108 shares during the last quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp boosted its position in shares of S&T Bancorp by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 33,461 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,073,000 after purchasing an additional 432 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of S&T Bancorp in the 1st quarter valued at $152,000. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of S&T Bancorp by 119.1% during the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 24,336 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $765,000 after buying an additional 13,230 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of S&T Bancorp by 3.0% in the first quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 76,412 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,451,000 after purchasing an additional 2,240 shares during the period. 65.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

S&T Bancorp Stock Performance

STBA traded down $0.07 on Friday, reaching $42.34. 142,146 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 163,321. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $40.79 and its 200 day moving average price is $37.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.62 billion, a PE ratio of 12.06 and a beta of 0.80. S&T Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $27.43 and a fifty-two week high of $45.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.99.

S&T Bancorp (NASDAQ:STBA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.03. S&T Bancorp had a net margin of 23.69% and a return on equity of 10.25%. The company had revenue of $96.35 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $98.90 million. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that S&T Bancorp will post 3.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

S&T Bancorp Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 7th will be paid a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 7th. This is an increase from S&T Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.21%. S&T Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.75%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

STBA has been the subject of several analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded S&T Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. DA Davidson boosted their price target on S&T Bancorp from $32.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th.

About S&T Bancorp

S&T Bancorp, Inc operates as the bank holding company for S&T Bank that engages in the provision of retail and commercial banking products and services. The company operates through six segments: Commercial Real Estate, Commercial and Industrial, Commercial Construction, Business Banking, Consumer Real Estate, and Other Consumer.