Hawthorn Bancshares (NASDAQ:HWBK) Upgraded to “Hold” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Hawthorn Bancshares (NASDAQ:HWBK) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Tuesday morning.

Hawthorn Bancshares Price Performance

HWBK opened at $18.89 on Tuesday. Hawthorn Bancshares has a 1 year low of $15.02 and a 1 year high of $26.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The stock has a market cap of $132.61 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 62.97 and a beta of 0.46. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $20.64 and a 200 day moving average price of $21.39.

Hawthorn Bancshares (NASDAQ:HWBK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported ($1.05) EPS for the quarter. Hawthorn Bancshares had a net margin of 2.09% and a return on equity of 1.69%. The firm had revenue of $18.00 million during the quarter.

Hawthorn Bancshares Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Saturday, June 15th will be paid a $0.19 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. This is a positive change from Hawthorn Bancshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.02%. Hawthorn Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 226.67%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Jonathan L. States acquired 1,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $21.57 per share, with a total value of $25,884.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 3,255 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $70,210.35. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, Director Jonathan L. States bought 1,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $21.57 per share, for a total transaction of $25,884.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 3,255 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $70,210.35. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Douglas Todd Eden purchased 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $22.32 per share, for a total transaction of $156,240.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 80,000 shares in the company, valued at $1,785,600. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have purchased a total of 20,400 shares of company stock valued at $426,846 in the last 90 days. 12.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Gendell Jeffrey L lifted its position in Hawthorn Bancshares by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. Gendell Jeffrey L now owns 16,505 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $268,000 after acquiring an additional 634 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Bluffs Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Hawthorn Bancshares in the first quarter valued at about $240,000. Finally, CENTRAL TRUST Co boosted its position in shares of Hawthorn Bancshares by 99.2% during the third quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 10,017 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $163,000 after buying an additional 4,988 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 30.73% of the company’s stock.

About Hawthorn Bancshares

Hawthorn Bancshares, Inc operates as the bank holding company for Hawthorn Bank that provides various banking services in the United States. It accepts checking, savings, money market, individual retirement, and other time deposit accounts, as well as certificates of deposit. The company also offers commercial and industrial, single payment personal, installment, commercial and residential real estate, and consumer loans, as well as equipment, operating, and small business administration loans; and debit and credit cards.