BCB Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:BCBP) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

BCB Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:BCBP) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 120,800 shares, an increase of 25.7% from the February 28th total of 96,100 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 55,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.2 days. Approximately 0.8% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on BCBP. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on shares of BCB Bancorp from $15.00 to $13.75 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on BCB Bancorp from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th.

BCB Bancorp Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of BCBP stock opened at $9.86 on Tuesday. BCB Bancorp has a 1-year low of $9.19 and a 1-year high of $14.04. The company has a market cap of $169.23 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.06 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.79, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 1.23. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $10.38 and a 200-day simple moving average of $11.66.

BCB Bancorp (NASDAQ:BCBP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The bank reported $0.16 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.29 by ($0.13). BCB Bancorp had a return on equity of 6.33% and a net margin of 9.46%. On average, equities research analysts expect that BCB Bancorp will post 1.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BCB Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 24th. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were given a dividend of $0.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.49%. BCB Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.31%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Jane Street Group LLC boosted its holdings in BCB Bancorp by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 15,669 shares of the bank’s stock worth $193,000 after buying an additional 767 shares during the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN lifted its position in shares of BCB Bancorp by 27.8% in the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 8,763 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $104,000 after acquiring an additional 1,907 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of BCB Bancorp by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 369,315 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $4,373,000 after acquiring an additional 1,912 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in shares of BCB Bancorp by 12.4% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 19,022 shares of the bank’s stock worth $225,000 after acquiring an additional 2,092 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of BCB Bancorp by 6.4% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 43,673 shares of the bank’s stock worth $517,000 after purchasing an additional 2,631 shares in the last quarter. 36.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BCB Bancorp Company Profile

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.