Pathfinder Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:PBHC) Short Interest Up 23.4% in February

Pathfinder Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:PBHC) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 5,800 shares, an increase of 23.4% from the February 13th total of 4,700 shares. Approximately 0.2% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 6,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 0.9 days.

Pathfinder Bancorp Price Performance

PBHC stock traded up $0.04 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $16.81. The company had a trading volume of 389 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,957. Pathfinder Bancorp has a 1-year low of $11.67 and a 1-year high of $19.86. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $16.78 and a 200-day moving average price of $16.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.74. The company has a market capitalization of $79.34 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.02 and a beta of 0.23.

Pathfinder Bancorp (NASDAQ:PBHC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The savings and loans company reported $0.69 earnings per share for the quarter. Pathfinder Bancorp had a net margin of 4.28% and a return on equity of 3.07%.

Pathfinder Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 17th were paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.38%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 17th. Pathfinder Bancorp’s payout ratio is 66.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Pathfinder Bancorp

In other Pathfinder Bancorp news, insider Ronald Tascarella sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.00, for a total transaction of $85,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 48,609 shares in the company, valued at $826,353. This represents a 9.33 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP William D. O’brien sold 2,353 shares of Pathfinder Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.14, for a total transaction of $40,330.42. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 14,865 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $254,786.10. The trade was a 13.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 7,556 shares of company stock valued at $128,803 in the last ninety days. 22.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Northern Trust Corp bought a new stake in Pathfinder Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth approximately $229,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Pathfinder Bancorp by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 19,640 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $335,000 after buying an additional 1,032 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC boosted its stake in Pathfinder Bancorp by 16.7% during the fourth quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 58,960 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $1,006,000 after acquiring an additional 8,436 shares in the last quarter. Fourthstone LLC grew its stake in shares of Pathfinder Bancorp by 69.2% in the 3rd quarter. Fourthstone LLC now owns 79,721 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $1,262,000 after buying an additional 32,604 shares during the period. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its holdings in Pathfinder Bancorp by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 288,511 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $5,049,000 after acquiring an additional 2,707 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 26.73% of the company’s stock.

About Pathfinder Bancorp

Pathfinder Bancorp, Inc operates as a bank holding company for Pathfinder Bank that provides various banking and financial products and services in New York. The company's deposit products include checking, savings, and money market deposit accounts; certificates of deposit; and demand and time deposits.