KBC Group SA (OTCMKTS:KBCSY) Short Interest Up 912.1% in May

KBC Group SA (OTCMKTS:KBCSY) was the target of a significant increase in short interest during the month of May. As of May 29th, there was short interest totaling 8,674 shares, an increase of 912.1% from the May 14th total of 857 shares. Approximately 0.0% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 47,043 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.2 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

KBCSY has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Zacks Research lowered shares of KBC Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of KBC Group in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of KBC Group in a research report on Friday, May 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

KBC Group Price Performance

OTCMKTS:KBCSY opened at $64.32 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $65.86 and its 200 day moving average price is $65.67. KBC Group has a 1-year low of $48.19 and a 1-year high of $73.12. The firm has a market cap of $53.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 0.59.

KBC Group (OTCMKTS:KBCSY) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 12th. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.84 by ($0.07). KBC Group had a net margin of 14.98% and a return on equity of 13.51%. The firm had revenue of $3.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.79 billion. As a group, analysts expect that KBC Group will post 5.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About KBC Group

KBC Group is a Belgian bank-insurance group headquartered in Brussels that combines retail and commercial banking with life and non-life insurance, asset management, leasing and related financial services. The company operates an integrated bank-insurance model designed to serve both individual consumers and corporate clients, offering deposit accounts, lending and mortgage products, payment and treasury services, pension and protection insurance, investment solutions and wealth management.

The group’s banking activities include retail and private banking, corporate and commercial banking, and specialized finance such as leasing and factoring.