Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. Acquires Shares of 532,000 Stellarone Corp $STEL

Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. bought a new position in Stellarone Corp (NYSE:STEL) during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 532,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $19,477,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of STEL. Osaic Holdings Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Stellarone in the second quarter valued at approximately $62,000. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Stellarone by 202.1% during the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,894 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 1,267 shares during the period. iSAM Funds UK Ltd purchased a new position in Stellarone during the 3rd quarter worth $83,000. Aquatic Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Stellarone during the 3rd quarter worth $112,000. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC bought a new stake in Stellarone during the 1st quarter valued at $202,000. 54.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Stellarone Stock Performance

NYSE STEL opened at $39.32 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.89. The company has a market capitalization of $2.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.18 and a beta of 0.70. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $38.49 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $37.16. Stellarone Corp has a one year low of $27.88 and a one year high of $40.21.

Stellarone (NYSE:STEL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The financial services provider reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.08. Stellarone had a net margin of 17.56% and a return on equity of 6.54%. The business had revenue of $111.04 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $108.41 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.46 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Stellarone Corp will post 2.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Stellarone Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 26th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. Stellarone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.27%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Weiss Ratings upgraded Stellarone from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $37.00.

Stellarone Company Profile

StellarOne Corporation is a bank holding company of StellarOne Bank (the Bank). The Bank is an independent commercial bank holding company. It offers services provided by full-service banks, including individual and commercial demand and time deposit accounts, commercial and consumer loans, residential mortgages, credit card services and deposit services. The Bank, through its commercial banking segment, offers Internet banking access for banking services, mobile banking and online bill payment for both consumers and commercial customers.