BCB Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:BCBP) Short Interest Up 19.5% in January

BCB Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:BCBP) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 142,100 shares, a growth of 19.5% from the January 15th total of 118,900 shares. Approximately 1.0% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 52,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.7 days.

Insider Buying and Selling at BCB Bancorp

In other BCB Bancorp news, COO Ryan Blake sold 8,677 shares of BCB Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.06, for a total transaction of $113,321.62. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 39,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $514,067.72. The trade was a 18.06 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 15.86% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BCB Bancorp

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC bought a new position in BCB Bancorp during the third quarter valued at $1,450,000. Voya Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in BCB Bancorp by 35.8% during the 4th quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 321,096 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,802,000 after buying an additional 84,617 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in BCB Bancorp by 345.4% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 59,707 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $737,000 after buying an additional 46,302 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. boosted its position in BCB Bancorp by 131.0% in the 4th quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 66,690 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $790,000 after buying an additional 37,820 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in BCB Bancorp by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 974,952 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $11,543,000 after buying an additional 21,826 shares during the period. 36.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BCB Bancorp Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of BCBP stock traded up $0.03 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $10.34. 30,744 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 61,066. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $11.53 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $12.06. BCB Bancorp has a 12-month low of $9.19 and a 12-month high of $14.04. The stock has a market cap of $176.30 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.55 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.79.

BCB Bancorp (NASDAQ:BCBP) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The bank reported $0.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.29 by ($0.13). BCB Bancorp had a net margin of 9.46% and a return on equity of 6.33%. On average, analysts expect that BCB Bancorp will post 1.38 EPS for the current year.

BCB Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.16 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.19%. BCB Bancorp’s payout ratio is 65.31%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BCBP has been the topic of several research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on BCB Bancorp from $15.00 to $13.75 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on BCB Bancorp from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th.

About BCB Bancorp

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.