CPB (NYSE:CPF) Share Price Breaks Above 200 Day Moving Average – Should You Sell?

Shares of CPB Inc. (NYSE:CPF) crossed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Monday. The stock has a 200-day moving average of $36.44 and traded as high as $36.59. CPB shares last traded at $36.2370, with a volume of 150,938 shares.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on CPF. Weiss Ratings cut CPB from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. Benchmark began coverage on CPB in a report on Thursday, July 9th. They set a “buy” rating and a $44.00 price objective for the company. Zacks Research lowered CPB from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 26th. Finally, Hovde Group assumed coverage on CPB in a report on Friday, October 2nd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $38.00 target price on the stock. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, CPB presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $39.00.

CPB Price Performance

The company has a fifty day moving average of $37.11 and a 200-day moving average of $36.47. The firm has a market cap of $947.42 million, a P/E ratio of 11.79 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.84.

CPB (NYSE:CPF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $77.45 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $75.69 million. CPB had a return on equity of 14.20% and a net margin of 22.52%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.67 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that CPB Inc. will post 3.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CPB Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 31st were issued a $0.30 dividend. This is an increase from CPB’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 31st. CPB’s dividend payout ratio is currently 38.46%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in CPF. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in CPB during the second quarter worth about $11,926,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position in shares of CPB by 3.3% during the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 247,848 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,921,000 after buying an additional 7,967 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of CPB by 27.1% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 162,431 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,191,000 after buying an additional 34,591 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in shares of CPB by 8.5% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 130,087 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,158,000 after buying an additional 10,198 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of CPB by 11.5% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 112,143 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,584,000 after buying an additional 11,575 shares during the last quarter. 88.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About CPB

Central Pacific Financial Corp. is the bank holding company for Central Pacific Bank, a community-focused financial institution headquartered in Honolulu, Hawaii. Central Pacific Bank serves consumers, businesses, nonprofit organizations and government entities, with a focus on customers throughout the Hawaiian Islands.

The bank provides a range of financial products and services, including checking and savings accounts, certificates of deposit, consumer lending, residential mortgages, commercial and small-business loans, commercial real estate financing, and treasury management services.