Stellarone (NYSE:STEL) Stock Price Passes Above 200-Day Moving Average – Should You Sell?

Shares of Stellarone Corp (NYSE:STEL) crossed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Friday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $35.55 and traded as high as $38.87. Stellarone shares last traded at $38.8390, with a volume of 424,719 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Stellarone from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $37.00.

Stellarone Trading Up 1.1%

The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $37.40 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $35.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.95 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.89.

Stellarone (NYSE:STEL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The financial services provider reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.08. Stellarone had a net margin of 17.56% and a return on equity of 6.54%. The business had revenue of $111.04 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $108.41 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.46 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Stellarone Corp will post 2.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Stellarone Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 26th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th will be issued a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. Stellarone’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.27%.

Institutional Trading of Stellarone

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Stellarone by 202.1% during the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,894 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 1,267 shares during the period. Osaic Holdings Inc. acquired a new position in Stellarone during the 2nd quarter valued at about $62,000. iSAM Funds UK Ltd acquired a new position in Stellarone during the 3rd quarter valued at about $83,000. Aquatic Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Stellarone during the 3rd quarter valued at about $112,000. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC increased its stake in Stellarone by 60.1% during the 3rd quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 4,351 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $132,000 after buying an additional 1,633 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 54.15% of the company’s stock.

About Stellarone

StellarOne Corporation is a bank holding company of StellarOne Bank (the Bank). The Bank is an independent commercial bank holding company. It offers services provided by full-service banks, including individual and commercial demand and time deposit accounts, commercial and consumer loans, residential mortgages, credit card services and deposit services. The Bank, through its commercial banking segment, offers Internet banking access for banking services, mobile banking and online bill payment for both consumers and commercial customers.