Short Interest in Hawthorn Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:HWBK) Increases By 107.8%

Hawthorn Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:HWBK) was the target of a large growth in short interest in December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 10,600 shares, a growth of 107.8% from the November 30th total of 5,100 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 12,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.9 days. Currently, 0.2% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Hawthorn Bancshares Trading Down 1.0 %

HWBK stock traded down $0.29 during trading on Friday, hitting $28.30. The company had a trading volume of 2,215 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,897. Hawthorn Bancshares has a 52-week low of $17.86 and a 52-week high of $34.00. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $29.49 and a 200-day simple moving average of $24.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $197.73 million, a P/E ratio of 31.44 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00.

Hawthorn Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Stockholders of record on Sunday, December 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.19 per share. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Hawthorn Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is presently 84.44%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Frank E. Burkhead sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.87, for a total value of $95,610.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 11,477 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $365,771.99. This represents a 20.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Jonathan Holtaway sold 1,015 shares of Hawthorn Bancshares stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.25, for a total transaction of $32,733.75. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 390,004 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,577,629. This represents a 0.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 9,457 shares of company stock valued at $285,175 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 23.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Hawthorn Bancshares

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Hawthorn Bancshares by 11.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 68,657 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,719,000 after purchasing an additional 6,955 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in Hawthorn Bancshares by 5.2% in the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 27,169 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $680,000 after buying an additional 1,340 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its holdings in Hawthorn Bancshares by 36.5% during the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 25,043 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $496,000 after buying an additional 6,700 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 30.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded Hawthorn Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 28th.

Hawthorn Bancshares Company Profile

Hawthorn Bancshares, Inc operates as the bank holding company for Hawthorn Bank that provides various banking services in the United States. It accepts checking, savings, money market, individual retirement, and other time deposit accounts, as well as certificates of deposit. The company also offers commercial and industrial, single payment personal, installment, commercial and residential real estate, and consumer loans, as well as equipment, operating, and small business administration loans; and debit and credit cards.