Short Interest in People’s United Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:PBCT) Declines By 21.0%

People’s United Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:PBCT) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest in November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 12,740,000 shares, a decrease of 21.0% from the October 31st total of 16,130,000 shares. Approximately 3.0% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 4,380,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.9 days.

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State of Wisconsin Investment Board boosted its stake in shares of People’s United Financial by 15.0% in the 2nd quarter. State of Wisconsin Investment Board now owns 61,675 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,057,000 after buying an additional 8,031 shares during the last quarter. Paragon Capital Management Ltd purchased a new position in shares of People’s United Financial in the 2nd quarter worth $179,000. Vident Investment Advisory LLC boosted its stake in shares of People’s United Financial by 24.9% in the 2nd quarter. Vident Investment Advisory LLC now owns 47,566 shares of the bank’s stock worth $815,000 after buying an additional 9,489 shares during the last quarter. Natixis lifted its position in People’s United Financial by 2,333.5% during the second quarter. Natixis now owns 2,290,334 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $39,256,000 after purchasing an additional 2,196,218 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hanson & Doremus Investment Management lifted its position in People’s United Financial by 22.3% during the second quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management now owns 177,715 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,832,000 after purchasing an additional 32,391 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.19% of the company’s stock.

People’s United Financial stock opened at $17.00 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $7.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.11 and a beta of 1.13. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $17.98 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $17.27. People’s United Financial has a 12 month low of $12.56 and a 12 month high of $19.62. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21.

People’s United Financial (NASDAQ:PBCT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 21st. The bank reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $0.34 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $470.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $482.40 million. People’s United Financial had a return on equity of 8.50% and a net margin of 31.40%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.34 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that People’s United Financial will post 1.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 1st were paid a $0.1825 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 29th. This represents a $0.73 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.29%. People’s United Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 47.71%.

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on PBCT shares. Zacks Investment Research lowered People’s United Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $16.50 price objective for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, September 21st. TheStreet lowered People’s United Financial from a “b” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on People’s United Financial from $17.15 to $18.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 7th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, People’s United Financial presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $17.57.

People’s United Financial Company Profile

People’s United Financial, Inc is a bank and financial holding company, which engages in the commercial banking, retail and business banking, and wealth management services to individual, corporate, and municipal customers. It operates through the Commercial Banking and Retail Banking segments. The Commercial Banking segment offers commercial real estate lending, middle market and business banking, mortgage warehouse and asset-based lending, and the equipment financing operations.

Recommended Story: Risk Tolerance and Your Investment Decisions

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat’s editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to [email protected]

Should you invest $1,000 in People’s United Financial right now?

Before you consider People’s United Financial, you’ll want to hear this.

MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street’s top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on… and People’s United Financial wasn’t on the list.

While People’s United Financial currently has a “Hold” rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.

View The 5 Stocks Here