First US Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FUSB) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

First US Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FUSB) was the target of a large growth in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 6,000 shares, a growth of 5.3% from the March 15th total of 5,700 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 3,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.7 days. Approximately 0.1% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First US Bancshares

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Gendell Jeffrey L boosted its stake in shares of First US Bancshares by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Gendell Jeffrey L now owns 291,981 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,010,000 after acquiring an additional 2,290 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. raised its stake in First US Bancshares by 12.0% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 22,483 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $262,000 after purchasing an additional 2,411 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in First US Bancshares by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 82,088 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $846,000 after purchasing an additional 2,758 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG boosted its stake in shares of First US Bancshares by 1,891.8% during the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 4,382 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 4,162 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of First US Bancshares by 50.3% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 33,599 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $287,000 after buying an additional 11,243 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 18.74% of the company’s stock.

First US Bancshares Price Performance

NASDAQ FUSB traded up $0.01 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $9.60. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,275 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,003. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.91. The company’s 50-day moving average is $9.81 and its two-hundred day moving average is $9.47. First US Bancshares has a fifty-two week low of $6.61 and a fifty-two week high of $10.71. The stock has a market cap of $55.58 million, a PE ratio of 7.21 and a beta of 0.99.

First US Bancshares (NASDAQ:FUSB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter. First US Bancshares had a net margin of 15.10% and a return on equity of 9.74%. The business had revenue of $10.03 million for the quarter.

First US Bancshares Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th were issued a dividend of $0.05 per share. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.08%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. First US Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.04%.

About First US Bancshares

First US Bancshares, Inc operates as the bank holding company for First US Bank that provides commercial banking products and services. The company offers non-interest-bearing demand deposits, savings accounts, NOW accounts, money market demand accounts, individual retirement accounts, and time deposits.