Short Interest in LCNB Corp. (NASDAQ:LCNB) Drops By 21.1%

LCNB Corp. (NASDAQ:LCNB) was the target of a large drop in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 75,800 shares, a drop of 21.1% from the February 28th total of 96,100 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 21,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.6 days. Currently, 0.6% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On LCNB

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of LCNB. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its position in LCNB by 240.2% in the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 3,123 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 2,205 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG increased its holdings in shares of LCNB by 51.4% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 16,396 shares of the bank’s stock worth $248,000 after buying an additional 5,565 shares in the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC increased its position in LCNB by 53.0% during the 4th quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 16,842 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $255,000 after purchasing an additional 5,834 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in shares of LCNB by 29.0% in the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 19,131 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $289,000 after purchasing an additional 4,306 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of LCNB by 268.9% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 20,446 shares of the bank’s stock worth $308,000 after buying an additional 14,904 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 34.73% of the company’s stock.

LCNB Stock Performance

LCNB stock traded up $0.14 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $15.02. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 22,047 shares, compared to its average volume of 22,450. The company has a market cap of $212.65 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.48 and a beta of 0.79. LCNB has a 1-year low of $12.42 and a 1-year high of $17.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $15.06 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $15.52.

LCNB (NASDAQ:LCNB) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The bank reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30 by $0.14. LCNB had a return on equity of 7.12% and a net margin of 10.76%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that LCNB will post 1.65 earnings per share for the current year.

LCNB Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.86%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. LCNB’s payout ratio is presently 90.72%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on LCNB shares. Hovde Group assumed coverage on LCNB in a report on Friday, December 20th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $16.25 price target for the company. StockNews.com upgraded shares of LCNB from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd.

LCNB Company Profile

LCNB Corp. operates as the financial holding company for LCNB National Bank that provides banking services in Ohio. Its deposit products include checking accounts, demand deposits, savings accounts, NOW and money market deposits, as well as individual retirement accounts and time certificates. The company's loan products comprise commercial and industrial, commercial and residential real estate, agricultural, construction, and small business administration loans; and residential mortgage loans that consists of loans for purchasing or refinancing personal residences, home equity lines of credit, and loans for commercial or consumer purposes secured by residential mortgages.