Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida (NASDAQ:SBCF) Short Interest Up 29.5% in February

Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida (NASDAQ:SBCF) saw a significant increase in short interest during the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,670,000 shares, an increase of 29.5% from the January 31st total of 1,290,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 383,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.4 days.

Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida Trading Down 1.3 %

SBCF stock traded down $0.37 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $27.78. 166,165 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 383,862. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85. The company has a 50-day moving average of $27.81 and a 200-day moving average of $27.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.38 billion, a PE ratio of 19.42 and a beta of 1.08. Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida has a 1 year low of $21.90 and a 1 year high of $31.68.

Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida (NASDAQ:SBCF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.15. Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida had a net margin of 14.95% and a return on equity of 5.91%. Analysts predict that Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida will post 1.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida’s dividend payout ratio is presently 50.35%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on SBCF. Stephens lifted their price target on shares of Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $31.00 target price (up from $29.00) on shares of Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $30.00.

Institutional Trading of Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of SBCF. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida by 0.7% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,239,308 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $112,978,000 after buying an additional 28,066 shares during the last quarter. North Reef Capital Management LP increased its holdings in shares of Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. North Reef Capital Management LP now owns 4,230,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $116,452,000 after purchasing an additional 150,000 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida by 7.9% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,170,515 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $111,144,000 after purchasing an additional 305,843 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,985,685 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $82,195,000 after purchasing an additional 16,214 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida by 1.2% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,024,351 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $53,959,000 after buying an additional 23,396 shares during the last quarter. 81.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida

Seacoast Banking Corp. of Florida is a financial holding company, which engages in the provision of integrated financial services. It provides banking and investment services to businesses and consumers, including personal and business deposit products, Internet and mobile banking, personal, commercial and mortgage loans, wealth management services, and treasury management solutions.