Short Interest in USCB Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:USCB) Expands By 139.2%

USCB Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:USCB) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 138,500 shares, an increase of 139.2% from the March 15th total of 57,900 shares. Approximately 1.4% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 27,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 5.1 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Raymond James cut shares of USCB Financial from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd.

USCB Financial Stock Performance

USCB opened at $16.79 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.91. The company has a market cap of $336.69 million, a PE ratio of 13.65 and a beta of 0.65. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $18.42 and a 200-day moving average of $17.94. USCB Financial has a 52-week low of $10.25 and a 52-week high of $21.86.

USCB Financial (NASDAQ:USCB) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by ($0.02). USCB Financial had a return on equity of 12.14% and a net margin of 17.14%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that USCB Financial will post 1.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

USCB Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 5th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This is a positive change from USCB Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.05. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.38%. USCB Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.52%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Kennedy Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of USCB Financial by 309.5% in the fourth quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 285,305 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,064,000 after purchasing an additional 215,636 shares during the last quarter. Mendon Capital Advisors Corp boosted its stake in USCB Financial by 7.4% during the 4th quarter. Mendon Capital Advisors Corp now owns 674,811 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,978,000 after purchasing an additional 46,206 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in USCB Financial by 159.3% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 51,043 shares of the company’s stock valued at $906,000 after purchasing an additional 31,357 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC increased its position in USCB Financial by 59.1% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 62,133 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,103,000 after buying an additional 23,072 shares during the period. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of USCB Financial by 70.6% during the fourth quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 45,967 shares of the company’s stock worth $816,000 after buying an additional 19,028 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.34% of the company’s stock.

About USCB Financial

USCB Financial Holdings, Inc operates as the bank holding company for U.S. Century Bank that engages in the provision of various personal and business banking products and services in the United States. It accepts various deposit products, including commercial and consumer checking, money market deposit, savings, and time deposit accounts, as well as certificates of deposit.