United Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:UBCP) Short Interest Update

United Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:UBCP) saw a large drop in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 9,300 shares, a drop of 28.5% from the February 28th total of 13,000 shares. Approximately 0.2% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 7,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.3 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On United Bancorp

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Tallon Kerry Patrick acquired a new stake in shares of United Bancorp in the fourth quarter valued at about $584,000. Wesbanco Bank Inc. grew its position in United Bancorp by 52.9% during the fourth quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 42,055 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $547,000 after buying an additional 14,550 shares during the period. Founders Financial Alliance LLC increased its holdings in United Bancorp by 11.0% in the fourth quarter. Founders Financial Alliance LLC now owns 36,642 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $476,000 after buying an additional 3,633 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of United Bancorp by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 40,956 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $528,000 after acquiring an additional 2,125 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of United Bancorp by 40.2% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 25,314 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $329,000 after acquiring an additional 7,264 shares during the period. 15.42% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

United Bancorp Stock Down 6.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:UBCP opened at $12.76 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $76.13 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.05 and a beta of 0.38. United Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $11.40 and a fifty-two week high of $14.94. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $13.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $13.06. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51.

United Bancorp (NASDAQ:UBCP) last released its earnings results on Friday, February 7th. The financial services provider reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. United Bancorp had a return on equity of 11.73% and a net margin of 16.83%.

United Bancorp Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a $0.1825 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.73 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.72%. This is an increase from United Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. United Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 57.48%.

About United Bancorp

United Bancorp, Inc operates as the bank holding company for Unified Bank that provides commercial and retail banking services in Ohio. The company provides range of banking and financial services, which includes accepting demand, savings, and time deposits. It also offers commercial, real estate and consumer loans.