Union Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:UNB) Short Interest Update

Union Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:UNB) was the target of a significant growth in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 32,500 shares, a growth of 23.6% from the February 13th total of 26,300 shares. Currently, 0.9% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 8,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.0 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Union Bankshares

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in Union Bankshares by 24.0% during the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 4,225 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $122,000 after buying an additional 819 shares in the last quarter. Alpine Global Management LLC purchased a new stake in Union Bankshares during the fourth quarter valued at about $269,000. 683 Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Union Bankshares during the fourth quarter valued at about $304,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its stake in Union Bankshares by 13.2% during the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 18,708 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $541,000 after buying an additional 2,176 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Union Bankshares by 16.8% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 30,880 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $893,000 after buying an additional 4,436 shares in the last quarter. 14.84% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com raised shares of Union Bankshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday.

Union Bankshares Stock Performance

UNB stock opened at $28.90 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $130.77 million, a P/E ratio of 14.90 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $30.45 and a 200 day simple moving average of $29.65. Union Bankshares has a fifty-two week low of $21.00 and a fifty-two week high of $37.70. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22.

Union Bankshares (NASDAQ:UNB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The bank reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter. Union Bankshares had a net margin of 11.74% and a return on equity of 13.09%.

Union Bankshares Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 6th. Shareholders of record on Saturday, January 25th were issued a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.98%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 24th. Union Bankshares’s payout ratio is 74.23%.

Union Bankshares Company Profile

Union Bankshares, Inc operates as the bank holding company for Union Bank that provides retail, commercial, and municipal banking products and services in northern Vermont and New Hampshire. It offers retail depository services, such as personal checking, savings, money market, IRA/SEP/KEOGH, and health savings accounts, as well as certificates of deposit.