BayFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:BAFN) Short Interest Update

BayFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:BAFN) experienced a significant rise in short interest throughout September. As of September 30th, the total short interest reached 17,800 shares, marking an impressive increase of 78.0% compared to the 10,000 shares reported on September 15th. With an average daily trading volume of 6,700 shares, this results in a days-to-cover ratio of approximately 2.7 days. Currently, about 0.5% of the company's total shares are shorted.

Current Trading Status of BayFirst Financial

On Friday, shares of BayFirst Financial traded down by 1.0%, reaching a price of $12.62. A total of 1,357 shares changed hands, which is lower than the typical trading volume of 8,409 shares. The company holds a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.93, and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. BayFirst Financial boasts a market capitalization of $52.18 million, with a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.17 and a beta of 0.43. Over the past fifty days, the stock has seen a moving average price of $13.29, while the 200-day moving average price stands at $12.68. The stock has had a low of $8.88 and a high of $14.50 over the past year.

Recent Earnings Report

BayFirst Financial recently reported its quarterly earnings on July 25th. For the quarter, the company achieved an earnings per share (EPS) of $0.12 and a revenue total of $20.84 million. The return on equity was calculated at 6.38%, and the net profit margin was recorded at 4.01%.

Dividend Announcement from BayFirst Financial

Furthermore, the company announced a quarterly dividend, which was distributed on Sunday, September 15th. Shareholders who were on record as of Sunday, September 1st received a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date for this payment was on Friday, August 30th. This provides an annualized dividend of $0.32, translating to a dividend yield of 2.54%. The dividend payout ratio for BayFirst Financial stands at 28.32%.

Institutional Investment in BayFirst Financial

Recently, a hedge fund increased its investment in BayFirst Financial. According to the latest Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Kennedy Capital Management LLC raised its stake in the company by 28.1% during the first quarter. After acquiring an additional 7,774 shares, the fund's holdings in BayFirst Financial reached 35,425 shares. As of the end of the most recent quarter, Kennedy Capital Management LLC accounted for approximately 0.86% of the company's shares, valued at around $459,000. In total, institutional investors and hedge funds own about 16.88% of BayFirst Financial's total stock.

Overview of BayFirst Financial Corp.

BayFirst Financial Corp. functions as the bank holding company for BayFirst National Bank, providing various community banking services to both businesses and individual customers. The offerings include checking accounts, savings accounts, NOW accounts, money market deposit accounts, certificates of deposit, and individual retirement accounts, as well as safety deposit boxes.

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