Trustmark Co. (NASDAQ:TRMK) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Trustmark Co. (NASDAQ:TRMK) saw a large growth in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 1,780,000 shares, a growth of 21.1% from the February 13th total of 1,470,000 shares. Currently, 3.2% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 289,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 6.2 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

TRMK has been the topic of several recent research reports. Janney Montgomery Scott initiated coverage on Trustmark in a report on Friday, January 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $42.00 price target on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Trustmark from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, DA Davidson upped their price objective on Trustmark from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $38.67.

Trustmark Stock Performance

Shares of Trustmark stock opened at $34.38 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $35.95 and its two-hundred day moving average is $35.46. The company has a market capitalization of $2.09 billion, a PE ratio of 9.45 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. Trustmark has a 52 week low of $25.41 and a 52 week high of $40.73.

Trustmark (NASDAQ:TRMK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The financial services provider reported $0.92 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.83 by $0.09. Trustmark had a return on equity of 10.12% and a net margin of 19.42%. As a group, analysts expect that Trustmark will post 3.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Trustmark Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Saturday, March 1st were paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.79%. This is a positive change from Trustmark’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. Trustmark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.37%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Trustmark

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Barclays PLC increased its stake in shares of Trustmark by 124.7% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 125,743 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,001,000 after buying an additional 69,779 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Trustmark by 6.8% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 598,969 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $19,059,000 after buying an additional 37,989 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in Trustmark by 10.7% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 122,956 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,912,000 after purchasing an additional 11,934 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in Trustmark by 0.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,090,988 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $98,355,000 after purchasing an additional 24,450 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Trustmark by 1.1% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,461,545 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $46,515,000 after purchasing an additional 15,627 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.64% of the company’s stock.

About Trustmark

Trustmark Corporation operates as the bank holding company for Trustmark National Bank that provides banking and other financial solutions to individuals and corporate institutions in the United States. The company operates through three segments: General Banking, Wealth Management, and Insurance. It offers checking, savings, and money market accounts; certificates of deposits and individual retirement accounts; financing for commercial and industrial projects, income-producing commercial real estate, owner-occupied real estate, and construction and land development; and installment and real estate loans, and lines of credit, as well as treasury management services.