Arrow Financial (NASDAQ:AROW) Hits New 1-Year High – Should You Buy?

Arrow Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:AROW)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high on Monday . The stock traded as high as $32.60 and last traded at $32.5840, with a volume of 12122 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $32.20.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded Arrow Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 6th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Arrow Financial in a report on Monday, December 8th. Finally, Hovde Group upgraded shares of Arrow Financial from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $28.50 to $33.50 in a report on Friday, October 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $30.75.

Arrow Financial Trading Up 1.2%

The company has a market capitalization of $535.47 million, a PE ratio of 15.74 and a beta of 0.82. The company’s fifty day moving average is $29.11 and its 200-day moving average is $28.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.93.

Arrow Financial (NASDAQ:AROW) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.05. Arrow Financial had a return on equity of 9.46% and a net margin of 14.65%.The company had revenue of $8.07 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $41.00 million. On average, analysts anticipate that Arrow Financial Corporation will post 2.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arrow Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 24th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 12th were given a dividend of $0.29 per share. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 12th. Arrow Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 56.04%.

Insider Transactions at Arrow Financial

In other news, Director Daniel James White acquired 1,644 shares of Arrow Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 10th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $30.14 per share, for a total transaction of $49,550.16. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 6,890 shares in the company, valued at $207,664.60. The trade was a 31.34% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Penko Krassimir Ivanov bought 1,620 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 4th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $29.82 per share, with a total value of $48,308.40. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief financial officer owned 26,394 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $787,069.08. This represents a 6.54% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. 3.28% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Arrow Financial by 3.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 833,728 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $21,919,000 after buying an additional 30,459 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its holdings in shares of Arrow Financial by 268.2% during the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 42,407 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,115,000 after purchasing an additional 30,891 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Arrow Financial in the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,530,000. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its position in Arrow Financial by 4.9% during the 1st quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 14,610 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $384,000 after buying an additional 688 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in Arrow Financial by 5.9% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 322,998 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,492,000 after acquiring an additional 18,034 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 46.71% of the company’s stock.

About Arrow Financial

Arrow Financial Corporation, a bank holding company, provides commercial and consumer banking, and financial products and services. The company’s deposit products include demand deposits, interest-bearing checking accounts, savings deposits, time deposits, and other time deposits. Its lending activities comprise commercial loans, such as term loans, time notes, and lines of credit; and commercial real estate loans to finance real estate purchases, refinancing, expansions, and enhancement to commercial properties, as well as commercial construction and land development loans to finance projects.