FS Bancorp (NASDAQ:FSBW) Cut to “Hold” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of FS Bancorp (NASDAQ:FSBW) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Tuesday morning.

FS Bancorp Stock Performance

FS Bancorp stock opened at $34.71 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $33.87 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $32.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.00. The stock has a market cap of $271.09 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.61 and a beta of 0.92. FS Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $26.08 and a fifty-two week high of $38.70.

FS Bancorp (NASDAQ:FSBW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 24th. The bank reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.02 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $35.91 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.80 million. FS Bancorp had a return on equity of 15.16% and a net margin of 19.21%. As a group, analysts expect that FS Bancorp will post 4.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FS Bancorp Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 22nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 8th were issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.00%. This is a positive change from FS Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 7th. FS Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.81%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On FS Bancorp

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in FSBW. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in FS Bancorp by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 401,328 shares of the bank’s stock worth $14,833,000 after acquiring an additional 2,668 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in FS Bancorp by 26.2% in the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 30,160 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,114,000 after acquiring an additional 6,265 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in FS Bancorp by 40.1% in the 4th quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 11,503 shares of the bank’s stock worth $425,000 after acquiring an additional 3,291 shares during the last quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in FS Bancorp by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 70,662 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,612,000 after acquiring an additional 596 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised its holdings in FS Bancorp by 9.5% in the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 10,357 shares of the bank’s stock worth $382,000 after acquiring an additional 899 shares during the last quarter. 63.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About FS Bancorp

FS Bancorp, Inc operates as a bank holding company for 1st Security Bank of Washington that provides banking and financial services to local families, local and regional businesses, and industry niches. The company operates in two segments, Commercial and Consumer Banking; and Home Lending. It offers various deposit instruments, including checking accounts, money market deposit accounts, savings accounts, and certificates of deposit.