Sound Financial Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFBC) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Sound Financial Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFBC) was the target of a large growth in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 4,800 shares, a growth of 128.6% from the December 15th total of 2,100 shares. Approximately 0.2% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.5 days.

Sound Financial Bancorp Trading Up 1.1 %

SFBC traded up $0.57 during trading on Thursday, reaching $53.97. The company had a trading volume of 418 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,262. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. Sound Financial Bancorp has a 52 week low of $39.00 and a 52 week high of $55.99. The stock has a market cap of $138.16 million, a P/E ratio of 35.27 and a beta of 0.69. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $53.72 and a 200-day simple moving average of $51.02.

Sound Financial Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 26th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 12th were issued a dividend of $0.19 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 12th. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.41%. Sound Financial Bancorp’s payout ratio is 49.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sound Financial Bancorp

In other Sound Financial Bancorp news, Director James E. Sweeney sold 592 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.57, for a total transaction of $31,121.44. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 2,942 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $154,660.94. The trade was a 16.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders sold 1,026 shares of company stock worth $54,446 in the last quarter. 12.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sound Financial Bancorp

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of SFBC. FNY Investment Advisers LLC increased its stake in Sound Financial Bancorp by 97.1% in the 4th quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC now owns 5,530 shares of the bank’s stock worth $291,000 after buying an additional 2,725 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Sound Financial Bancorp by 6.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 23,885 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,278,000 after buying an additional 1,407 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its position in Sound Financial Bancorp by 10.9% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,095 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $273,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Arcus Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Sound Financial Bancorp in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $503,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Sound Financial Bancorp by 7.2% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 16,811 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $739,000 after acquiring an additional 1,122 shares in the last quarter. 68.85% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Sound Financial Bancorp Company Profile

Sound Financial Bancorp, Inc operates as the bank holding company for Sound Community Bank that provides banking and other financial services for consumers and businesses. It accepts various deposits products comprising savings, money market deposit, NOW, and demand accounts, as well as certificates of deposit.