Short Interest in BCB Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:BCBP) Declines By 6.3%

BCB Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:BCBP) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest in the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 81,500 shares, a decrease of 6.3% from the September 30th total of 87,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 46,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.8 days. Approximately 0.6% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Institutional Trading of BCB Bancorp

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of BCB Bancorp by 3.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 775,070 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $8,099,000 after acquiring an additional 25,064 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in BCB Bancorp by 8.1% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 64,643 shares of the bank’s stock worth $676,000 after acquiring an additional 4,867 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of BCB Bancorp by 51.7% during the first quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 53,760 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $562,000 after purchasing an additional 18,327 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of BCB Bancorp in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $334,000. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd boosted its position in BCB Bancorp by 25.1% during the 1st quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 17,348 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $181,000 after purchasing an additional 3,483 shares during the period. 36.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

BCB Bancorp Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of BCB Bancorp stock traded down $0.04 on Thursday, hitting $12.31. 2,456 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 47,590. BCB Bancorp has a 52-week low of $9.19 and a 52-week high of $13.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75. The stock has a market cap of $208.74 million, a P/E ratio of 7.92 and a beta of 0.57. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $12.25 and its 200 day moving average is $11.19.

BCB Bancorp (NASDAQ:BCBP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 18th. The bank reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $51.75 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.29 million. BCB Bancorp had a net margin of 10.67% and a return on equity of 7.42%. Equities analysts anticipate that BCB Bancorp will post 1.32 earnings per share for the current year.

BCB Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, November 1st will be paid a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 1st. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.20%. BCB Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 41.03%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on BCBP. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of BCB Bancorp from $11.50 to $14.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on BCB Bancorp from $13.25 to $13.50 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd.

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.