Short Interest in BayFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:BAFN) Expands By 78.0%

BayFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:BAFN) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 17,800 shares, a growth of 78.0% from the September 15th total of 10,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 6,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.7 days. Currently, 0.5% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

BayFirst Financial Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of BAFN opened at $12.62 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $13.29 and a 200-day simple moving average of $12.67. The stock has a market cap of $52.18 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.17 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 0.93. BayFirst Financial has a 1-year low of $8.88 and a 1-year high of $14.50.

BayFirst Financial (NASDAQ:BAFN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $0.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The company had revenue of $20.84 million for the quarter. BayFirst Financial had a net margin of 4.01% and a return on equity of 6.38%.

BayFirst Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, September 1st were paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.54%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 30th. BayFirst Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.32%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BayFirst Financial

A hedge fund recently raised its stake in BayFirst Financial stock. Kennedy Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in BayFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:BAFN) by 28.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 35,425 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 7,774 shares during the period. Kennedy Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.86% of BayFirst Financial worth $459,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. Institutional investors own 16.88% of the company’s stock.

About BayFirst Financial

BayFirst Financial Corp. operates as the bank holding company for BayFirst National Bank that provides community banking services for businesses and individuals. The company offers checking, savings, NOW, and money market deposit accounts, as well as certificates of deposit and individual retirement account; and safety deposit boxes.