Brookline Bancorp (NASDAQ:BRKL) Cut to “Market Perform” at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered shares of Brookline Bancorp (NASDAQ:BRKL) from an outperform rating to a market perform rating in a report issued on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has $14.50 price target on the bank’s stock.

Separately, Raymond James upgraded Brookline Bancorp from a “market perform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $16.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, December 20th.

Brookline Bancorp Price Performance

NASDAQ BRKL opened at $11.94 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.06 billion, a PE ratio of 14.39 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 1.13. Brookline Bancorp has a 12 month low of $8.01 and a 12 month high of $13.15. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $12.02 and its 200 day simple moving average is $10.44.

Brookline Bancorp (NASDAQ:BRKL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The bank reported $0.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.20 by $0.03. Brookline Bancorp had a net margin of 11.40% and a return on equity of 6.20%. The company had revenue of $165.91 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $88.67 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.26 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Brookline Bancorp will post 0.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Brookline Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th were given a $0.135 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $0.54 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.52%. Brookline Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.06%.

Institutional Trading of Brookline Bancorp

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Brookline Bancorp by 174.9% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,154 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 3,279 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in Brookline Bancorp in the second quarter valued at about $102,000. Creative Planning acquired a new position in Brookline Bancorp in the third quarter valued at about $103,000. Townsquare Capital LLC acquired a new position in Brookline Bancorp in the third quarter valued at about $111,000. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd bought a new position in Brookline Bancorp during the second quarter worth about $115,000. 78.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Brookline Bancorp

Brookline Bancorp, Inc operates as a bank holding company for the Brookline Bank that provide commercial, business, and retail banking services to corporate, municipal, and retail customers in the United States. Its deposit products include demand checking, NOW, money market, and savings accounts. The company’s loan portfolio primarily comprises first mortgage loans secured by commercial, multi-family, and residential real estate properties; loans to business entities comprising commercial lines of credit; loans to condominium associations; loans and leases used to finance equipment for small businesses; financing for construction and development projects; and home equity and other consumer loans.