Customers Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:CUBI) Short Interest Up 5.9% in March

Customers Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:CUBI) was the target of a large growth in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,980,000 shares, a growth of 5.9% from the March 15th total of 1,870,000 shares. Approximately 6.8% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 284,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 7.0 days.

Customers Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CUBI opened at $46.45 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.93. Customers Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $15.80 and a fifty-two week high of $60.09. The stock has a market cap of $1.46 billion, a PE ratio of 6.35 and a beta of 1.67. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $51.91 and a 200-day moving average of $48.33.

Customers Bancorp (NYSE:CUBI) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The bank reported $1.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.76 by $0.14. Customers Bancorp had a return on equity of 18.75% and a net margin of 17.23%. The business had revenue of $191.18 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $187.87 million. Equities research analysts anticipate that Customers Bancorp will post 6.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Customers Bancorp

In other Customers Bancorp news, insider Glenn Hedde sold 666 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.20, for a total transaction of $36,097.20. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 69,428 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,762,997.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Customers Bancorp news, insider Glenn Hedde sold 666 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.20, for a total transaction of $36,097.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 69,428 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,762,997.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Carla A. Leibold sold 35,832 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.15, for a total value of $1,904,470.80. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 41,224 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,191,055.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 9.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Customers Bancorp

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its holdings in shares of Customers Bancorp by 51.1% in the fourth quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 71,000 shares of the bank’s stock worth $4,091,000 after purchasing an additional 24,000 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in Customers Bancorp by 6.4% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 12,546 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $723,000 after purchasing an additional 752 shares in the last quarter. Virtue Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Customers Bancorp in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $696,000. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. bought a new stake in Customers Bancorp during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $183,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in Customers Bancorp by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 81,576 shares of the bank’s stock worth $4,700,000 after buying an additional 329 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Raymond James raised their target price on Customers Bancorp from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Wedbush reduced their target price on shares of Customers Bancorp from $70.00 to $65.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Customers Bancorp from $61.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, B. Riley boosted their price objective on Customers Bancorp from $62.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Customers Bancorp currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $61.86.

Customers Bancorp Company Profile

Customers Bancorp, Inc operates as the bank holding company for Customers Bank that provides financial products and services to individual consumers, and small and middle market businesses. The company provides deposit banking products, which includes commercial and consumer checking, non-interest-bearing and interest-bearing demand, MMDA, savings, and time deposit accounts.