Short Interest in KBC Group NV (OTCMKTS:KBCSY) Rises By 77.3%

KBC Group NV (OTCMKTS:KBCSY) was the target of a large increase in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 58,500 shares, an increase of 77.3% from the March 15th total of 33,000 shares. Approximately 0.0% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 56,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.0 days.

KBC Group Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of KBC Group stock opened at $45.28 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.06, a PEG ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 0.85. KBC Group has a 1-year low of $33.98 and a 1-year high of $47.89. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $44.48 and a 200-day simple moving average of $39.97.

KBC Group (OTCMKTS:KBCSY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.26 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $3.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.96 billion. KBC Group had a return on equity of 14.40% and a net margin of 13.32%. As a group, research analysts predict that KBC Group will post 4.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on KBCSY. Barclays raised shares of KBC Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 17th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of KBC Group in a report on Friday, March 7th.

KBC Group Company Profile

KBC Group NV, together with its subsidiaries, provides integrated bank-insurance services primarily for retail, private banking, small and medium sized enterprises, and mid-cap clients. The company offers demand deposits and savings accounts; home and mortgage loans; consumer finance and SME funding services; credit, investment fund and asset management, and life and non-life insurance; and cash management, payments, trade finance, lease, money market, capital market products, and stockbroking services.