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

Colony Bankcorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBAN) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest in October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 74,500 shares, a drop of 21.1% from the October 15th total of 94,400 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 35,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.1 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Colony Bankcorp from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Colony Bankcorp

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CBAN. Quadrature Capital Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Colony Bankcorp during the first quarter worth about $123,000. Rothschild Investment LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Colony Bankcorp during the second quarter worth about $139,000. Ritholtz Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of Colony Bankcorp by 8.9% during the second quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 26,753 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $328,000 after buying an additional 2,193 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in Colony Bankcorp by 7.8% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 31,396 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $361,000 after purchasing an additional 2,275 shares during the period. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its holdings in Colony Bankcorp by 47.9% in the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 36,252 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $417,000 after purchasing an additional 11,746 shares during the period. 50.37% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Colony Bankcorp Price Performance

NASDAQ:CBAN traded down $0.11 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $16.98. 51,801 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 41,175. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.81. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $15.56 and its 200 day simple moving average is $13.79. Colony Bankcorp has a 1 year low of $10.33 and a 1 year high of $18.03. The company has a market cap of $297.66 million, a PE ratio of 13.58 and a beta of 0.57.

Colony Bankcorp (NASDAQ:CBAN) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $44.69 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $28.67 million. Colony Bankcorp had a net margin of 12.75% and a return on equity of 8.86%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.34 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Colony Bankcorp will post 1.33 EPS for the current year.

Colony Bankcorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.112 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 6th. This represents a $0.45 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.64%. Colony Bankcorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.00%.

About Colony Bankcorp

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.