California BanCorp (NASDAQ:BCAL) Hits New 1-Year High – Time to Buy?

Shares of California BanCorp (NASDAQ:BCAL) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $21.52 and last traded at $21.59, with a volume of 45535 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $20.91.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on BCAL. DA Davidson upped their target price on shares of California BanCorp from $21.50 to $22.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of California BanCorp in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded California BanCorp from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and three have assigned a Buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, California BanCorp currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $20.67.

California BanCorp Trading Up 3.2%

The stock has a market cap of $694.28 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.80 and a beta of 0.93. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $19.71 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $18.85.

California BanCorp (NASDAQ:BCAL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 8th. The company reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.01. California BanCorp had a net margin of 25.68% and a return on equity of 10.59%. The firm had revenue of $44.22 million for the quarter. Research analysts predict that California BanCorp will post 1.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

California BanCorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 23rd were paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 23rd. California BanCorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.86%.

Insider Transactions at California BanCorp

In other California BanCorp news, President Richard Hernandez sold 17,000 shares of California BanCorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.12, for a total transaction of $325,040.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president directly owned 72,935 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,394,517.20. The trade was a 18.90% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 8.14% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On California BanCorp

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of California BanCorp by 38.6% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,882,833 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,822,000 after purchasing an additional 802,947 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in shares of California BanCorp by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 795,309 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,093,000 after purchasing an additional 34,945 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in California BanCorp by 49.5% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 470,192 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,331,000 after purchasing an additional 155,744 shares during the period. Mendon Capital Advisors Corp raised its holdings in California BanCorp by 58.7% in the 1st quarter. Mendon Capital Advisors Corp now owns 404,369 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,165,000 after purchasing an additional 149,491 shares during the period. Finally, Kennedy Capital Management LLC boosted its position in California BanCorp by 77.1% during the third quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 363,664 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,066,000 after purchasing an additional 158,270 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.40% of the company’s stock.

California BanCorp Company Profile

California BanCorp (NASDAQ:BCAL) is a bank holding company headquartered in California. Founded to address the diverse financial needs of businesses and individuals across the state, the company focuses on community-oriented banking solutions and operates under a locally based decision-making model.

Through its wholly owned banking subsidiary, California BanCorp offers a suite of deposit products including checking, savings, money market and certificate of deposit accounts. Its lending portfolio encompasses commercial and industrial loans, real estate and construction financing, as well as consumer lending products such as personal loans and home equity lines of credit.

In addition to core deposit and lending services, the company provides treasury and cash management services, online and mobile banking platforms, and merchant payment solutions designed to streamline operations for small to mid-sized enterprises.