Burke & Herbert Financial Services Corp. (NASDAQ:BHRB) Short Interest Up 30.2% in February

Burke & Herbert Financial Services Corp. (NASDAQ:BHRB) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 107,700 shares, an increase of 30.2% from the January 31st total of 82,700 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 39,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.7 days. Currently, 0.8% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Burke & Herbert Financial Services Trading Down 0.6 %

Burke & Herbert Financial Services stock traded down $0.36 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $60.70. 30,560 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 55,057. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $62.36 and its 200-day simple moving average is $64.19. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $908.62 million and a P/E ratio of 25.29. Burke & Herbert Financial Services has a fifty-two week low of $46.00 and a fifty-two week high of $75.32.

Burke & Herbert Financial Services (NASDAQ:BHRB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The company reported $1.77 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.77. Burke & Herbert Financial Services had a return on equity of 15.15% and a net margin of 8.88%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Burke & Herbert Financial Services will post 8.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Burke & Herbert Financial Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.62%. Burke & Herbert Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 91.67%.

Insider Activity at Burke & Herbert Financial Services

In other news, Director Gary L. Hinkle acquired 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $64.48 per share, for a total transaction of $64,480.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 244,355 shares in the company, valued at $15,756,010.40. This trade represents a 0.41 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Julian Forrest Jr. Barnwell bought 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $63.75 per share, with a total value of $318,750.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 187,939 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,981,111.25. This trade represents a 2.73 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders purchased a total of 19,555 shares of company stock valued at $1,255,379 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 9.65% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Burke & Herbert Financial Services

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BHRB. Swiss National Bank boosted its position in Burke & Herbert Financial Services by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 26,400 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,646,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its stake in Burke & Herbert Financial Services by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 18,548 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,157,000 after acquiring an additional 341 shares during the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Burke & Herbert Financial Services by 841.3% in the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 433 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 387 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its position in shares of Burke & Herbert Financial Services by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 7,711 shares of the company’s stock valued at $481,000 after acquiring an additional 535 shares during the period. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd increased its stake in shares of Burke & Herbert Financial Services by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 12,309 shares of the company’s stock worth $750,000 after purchasing an additional 566 shares during the last quarter.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Burke & Herbert Financial Services from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $79.00 to $76.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th.

Burke & Herbert Financial Services Company Profile

Burke Herbert Financial Services Corp. is a bank holding company, which engages in the provision of banking products and financial services to small to medium-sized businesses, their owners and employees, professional corporations, non-profits, and individuals. It operates through the following loan portfolio segments: Commercial Real Estate, Owner-Occupied Commercial Real Estate, Acquisition, Construction, and Development, Commercial and Industrial, Single Family Residential (1-4 Units), and Consumer Non-Real Estate and Other.