BCB Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:BCBP) Short Interest Up 22.6% in April

BCB Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:BCBP) was the target of a large increase in short interest during the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 84,100 shares, an increase of 22.6% from the March 31st total of 68,600 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 50,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.7 days. Currently, 0.6% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on BCB Bancorp from $14.00 to $12.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on BCB Bancorp from $13.00 to $13.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Finally, TheStreet lowered BCB Bancorp from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $12.75.

BCB Bancorp Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:BCBP traded up $0.11 during trading on Monday, hitting $9.57. 21,430 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 49,050. The stock has a market cap of $162.25 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.08 and a beta of 0.58. BCB Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $9.19 and a fifty-two week high of $13.90. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $10.18 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $11.23. The company has a current ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77.

BCB Bancorp (NASDAQ:BCBP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The bank reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.37 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $27.15 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $27.33 million. BCB Bancorp had a return on equity of 9.78% and a net margin of 13.41%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that BCB Bancorp will post 1.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BCB Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.16 per share. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.69%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 2nd. BCB Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 41.03%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BCBP. Bailard Inc. bought a new position in shares of BCB Bancorp during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $267,000. Strs Ohio lifted its position in shares of BCB Bancorp by 407.9% during the 3rd quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 38,600 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $430,000 after acquiring an additional 31,000 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management lifted its position in shares of BCB Bancorp by 10.2% during the 3rd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 146,391 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,631,000 after acquiring an additional 13,500 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of BCB Bancorp during the 3rd quarter worth $184,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in BCB Bancorp in the 4th quarter worth about $106,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 36.00% of the company’s stock.

About BCB Bancorp

BCB Bancorp, Inc operates as a bank holding company for BCB Community Bank that engages in the provision of banking products and services to businesses and individuals in the United States. The company offers insured deposit products, including savings and club accounts, interest and non-interest-bearing demand accounts, money market accounts, certificates of deposit, and individual retirement accounts.