First Savings Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSFG) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

First Savings Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSFG) saw a large increase in short interest in December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 9,500 shares, an increase of 55.7% from the November 30th total of 6,100 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 16,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.6 days.

First Savings Financial Group Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of First Savings Financial Group stock opened at $25.80 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $177.97 million, a P/E ratio of 13.03 and a beta of 0.73. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $27.92 and a 200 day simple moving average of $23.74. First Savings Financial Group has a 12-month low of $14.55 and a 12-month high of $30.94. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.83.

First Savings Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be paid a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.33%. First Savings Financial Group’s payout ratio is 30.30%.

Institutional Trading of First Savings Financial Group

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in First Savings Financial Group by 72.9% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 3,396 shares of the bank’s stock worth $81,000 after purchasing an additional 1,432 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its position in shares of First Savings Financial Group by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 32,198 shares of the bank’s stock worth $767,000 after buying an additional 1,608 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of First Savings Financial Group by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 58,253 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,387,000 after buying an additional 690 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of First Savings Financial Group by 166.0% in the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 68,421 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,629,000 after acquiring an additional 42,696 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fourthstone LLC increased its position in shares of First Savings Financial Group by 166.2% during the third quarter. Fourthstone LLC now owns 214,671 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $5,111,000 after acquiring an additional 134,029 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 35.22% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FSFG has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of First Savings Financial Group from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 25th. Hovde Group started coverage on shares of First Savings Financial Group in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $24.00 target price for the company. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of First Savings Financial Group from $27.50 to $31.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th.

First Savings Financial Group Company Profile

First Savings Financial Group, Inc operates as the bank holding company for First Savings Bank that provides various financial services to consumers and businesses in southern Indiana. The company operates through three segments: Core Banking, SBA Lending, and Mortgage Banking. It accepts deposits, such as checking accounts, NOW and money market accounts, regular savings accounts, and time deposits.