Ames National Corporation heads into its May 1 earnings announcement with short sellers meaningfully backing away — even as the options market edges toward its most defensive posture in a year.
The retreat in short positioning is the standout feature of the past month. Short interest has fallen 22% over 30 days and is now at roughly 2% of the free float — levels that barely register as a bearish signal. The weekly drop of 19% is particularly sharp. Shares outstanding in the borrow have compressed from a mid-March peak of around 238,000 to just 176,000 today. That is not a minor adjustment; it is a systematic unwinding of a position that was never very large to begin with.
The lending market tells the same story. Availability in the borrow pool is loose. The cost to borrow has dropped about 22% over the past month to a negligible 0.63% annualised — far from the 1.5% touched in early April. Availability has correspondingly eased as demand for borrowed shares dried up. At the 52-week utilisation peak of 12%, reached in late March, the stock had perhaps a few hundred committed short sellers; at the current 2.26%, most of them have left. For anyone wanting to initiate a new short position, the borrow is cheap and accessible.
Options positioning is the one datapoint that cuts in the other direction. Put/call demand has risen sharply in recent weeks, with the PCR now at 0.18 — well above its 20-day mean of 0.07 and roughly 1.4 standard deviations elevated. That is close to the 52-week high of 0.20. For a stock where calls have dominated throughout the year, the recent shift toward puts is notable. Options volume on ATLO is thin in absolute terms, so even small trades move the ratio. Still, the direction of the shift — from extreme call dominance to a near-record PCR over the past two weeks — suggests at least some investors are paying for downside protection ahead of the print.
Insiders have been quiet but consistently buying. Director Michelle Cassabaum added shares twice this year, most recently in late February at $27.25. Other directors and subsidiary presidents have added small positions at prices in the low $20s since autumn. None of the purchases are large in dollar terms — the 90-day net buy totals around $18,000 — but the absence of any selling across the last ten disclosed trades is a consistent signal. The institutional picture is similarly steady: BlackRock and Vanguard are the two largest holders, with both making only marginal adjustments in Q1. Fourthstone LLC holds nearly 5% and last reported a large addition, though that data runs through December 2025. The analyst community is thin — just one hold rating, unchanged as of mid-April.
Recent earnings reactions have been broadly positive. The January 2026 release produced a 3% one-day gain that extended to 6.7% over five trading days. October 2025 results similarly triggered a 3% next-day move and held most of it into the week close. The most recent event — April 24, 2026 — nudged the stock just 0.4% lower, though that print predates Thursday's May 1 event. The pattern of tame but positive reactions is consistent with a low-volatility, dividend-oriented community bank stock. The current $0.24 quarterly dividend, paid in late February, keeps the income angle intact.
The stock itself has responded well, gaining 3.6% over the past month to $28.61 — its highest level in at least three months. Peers have been mixed: NWBI gained 7.1% on the week and WTBA added 4.1%, while CBAN fell 2.4%. The May 1 report is the next focal point — the question is whether the unusually elevated put/call ratio represents genuine hedging conviction or simply a thin-market artefact in a stock that rarely attracts heavy options flow.
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