ECB Bancorp (NASDAQ:ECBK) Trading Down 0.8% – Time to Sell?

ECB Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:ECBK) dropped 0.8% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $17.97 and last traded at $18.12. Approximately 10,530 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 26% from the average daily volume of 8,334 shares. The stock had previously closed at $18.26.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ECBK has been the topic of several recent research reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of ECB Bancorp from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of ECB Bancorp to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, ECB Bancorp has a consensus rating of “Buy”.

ECB Bancorp Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48. The company has a market capitalization of $158.55 million, a PE ratio of 15.76 and a beta of 0.49. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $17.82 and its two-hundred day moving average is $17.53.

ECB Bancorp (NASDAQ:ECBK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 8th. The company reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter. ECB Bancorp had a net margin of 11.49% and a return on equity of 5.60%. The company had revenue of $10.16 million for the quarter.

Institutional Trading of ECB Bancorp

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ECBK. Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in ECB Bancorp by 5,104.5% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 3,435 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 3,369 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. purchased a new position in shares of ECB Bancorp during the second quarter worth approximately $56,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of ECB Bancorp during the second quarter worth approximately $65,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of ECB Bancorp during the fourth quarter worth approximately $87,000. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund bought a new position in ECB Bancorp in the second quarter worth approximately $103,000. 30.27% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About ECB Bancorp

ECB Bancorp, Inc operating as a holding company for Everett Co-operative Bank that provides various banking products and services. The company accepts various deposit products, including certificate of deposit accounts, IRAs, money market accounts, savings accounts, demand deposit accounts, and interest-bearing and noninterest-bearing checking accounts. It also offers one- to four-family residential real estate, commercial real estate and multifamily real estate, construction and land, commercial, and consumer loans, as well as home equity loans and lines of credit.