Union Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:UNB) Short Interest Update

Union Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:UNB) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 32,500 shares, an increase of 23.6% from the February 13th total of 26,300 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 8,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.0 days. Approximately 0.9% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Union Bankshares Trading Down 0.3 %

NASDAQ UNB opened at $28.90 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $30.45 and its 200-day simple moving average is $29.65. Union Bankshares has a 52 week low of $21.00 and a 52 week high of $37.70. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The stock has a market cap of $130.77 million, a P/E ratio of 14.90 and a beta of 0.80.

Union Bankshares (NASDAQ:UNB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The bank reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Union Bankshares had a net margin of 11.74% and a return on equity of 13.09%.

Union Bankshares Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 6th. Shareholders of record on Saturday, January 25th were paid a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 24th. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.98%. Union Bankshares’s payout ratio is 74.23%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com raised shares of Union Bankshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday.

Institutional Trading of Union Bankshares

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in UNB. 683 Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Union Bankshares during the fourth quarter valued at $304,000. Alpine Global Management LLC bought a new stake in Union Bankshares during the fourth quarter valued at $269,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Union Bankshares by 16.8% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 30,880 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $893,000 after purchasing an additional 4,436 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its stake in Union Bankshares by 13.2% during the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 18,708 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $541,000 after purchasing an additional 2,176 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cardinal Capital Management increased its stake in Union Bankshares by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Cardinal Capital Management now owns 76,087 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,200,000 after purchasing an additional 1,674 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 14.84% of the company’s stock.

About Union Bankshares

Union Bankshares, Inc operates as the bank holding company for Union Bank that provides retail, commercial, and municipal banking products and services in northern Vermont and New Hampshire. It offers retail depository services, such as personal checking, savings, money market, IRA/SEP/KEOGH, and health savings accounts, as well as certificates of deposit.