Significant Decrease in Short Interest for First US Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FUSB)

First US Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FUSB - Get Free Report) experienced a notable decline in short interest during October. As of October 15th, the total short interest amounted to 3,900 shares, representing a decrease of 41.8% from the previous total of 6,700 shares reported on September 30th. With an average trading volume of 3,700 shares, the current days-to-cover ratio stands at 1.1 days. This indicates that roughly 0.1% of the company's shares are currently short sold.

Current Trading Status

On Friday, shares of FUSB observed a slight decline of $0.01, bringing the price to $11.69 during midday trading. The trading volume at that time was 9,243 shares, which is significantly above its average of 4,555 shares. Over the past year, First US Bancshares has recorded a low of $8.27 and a high of $12.17. Financial metrics show a quick ratio and current ratio both at 0.90, alongside a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The 50-day and 200-day simple moving averages are $11.18 and $10.42, respectively, while the stock holds a market cap of $67.67 million, with a PE ratio of 8.72 and a beta of 0.92.

Quarterly Earnings Update

First US Bancshares announced its quarterly earnings on July 24th. The financial services firm reported earnings of $0.34 per share (EPS) for the quarter, with revenues totaling $10.01 million. The company achieved a net margin of 14.34% and a return on equity of 9.47%, reflecting its operational performance.

Dividend Announcement

The company also declared a quarterly dividend, which was distributed on October 1st to shareholders of record from September 13th. Each shareholder received a dividend of $0.05 per share, amounting to an annualized dividend of $0.20 and a yield of 1.71%. Currently, First US Bancshares's dividend payout ratio stands at 14.93%.

Institutional Investor Activity

Recently, a number of hedge funds and institutional investors adjusted their stakes in First US Bancshares. Diversified LLC established a new position valued at approximately $106,000 in the second quarter. Similarly, Cahaba Wealth Management Inc. initiated a new stake in the company worth about $118,000 during the same period. Gendell Jeffrey L increased their holdings by 14.0% in the first quarter, now owning 332,957 shares valued at $3,083,000 after acquiring an additional 40,976 shares last quarter. Approximately 18.74% of the stock is held by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Company Overview

First US Bancshares, Inc operates as the bank holding company for First US Bank, providing a range of commercial banking products and services. The offerings include non-interest-bearing demand deposits, savings accounts, NOW accounts, money market demand accounts, individual retirement accounts, and time deposits.

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