Short Interest in BCB Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:BCBP) Rises By 10.5%

BCB Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:BCBP) was the target of a significant increase in short interest during the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 100,400 shares, an increase of 10.5% from the August 15th total of 90,900 shares. Approximately 0.7% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 54,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.9 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BCB Bancorp

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BCBP. New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its holdings in shares of BCB Bancorp by 91.1% in the fourth quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 2,727 shares of the bank’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 1,300 shares during the period. CWM LLC increased its holdings in shares of BCB Bancorp by 1,232.6% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,492 shares of the bank’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 2,305 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its holdings in shares of BCB Bancorp by 92.5% in the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 7,201 shares of the bank’s stock worth $75,000 after purchasing an additional 3,460 shares during the period. Quadrature Capital Ltd increased its holdings in shares of BCB Bancorp by 25.1% in the first quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 17,348 shares of the bank’s stock worth $181,000 after purchasing an additional 3,483 shares during the period. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 4,867 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 36.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BCBP has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on BCB Bancorp from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on BCB Bancorp from $11.50 to $14.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th.

BCB Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:BCBP traded up $0.04 during trading on Monday, hitting $12.52. 18,376 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 49,982. The company has a market cap of $213.22 million, a PE ratio of 8.03 and a beta of 0.58. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $11.90 and a 200 day moving average of $10.73. BCB Bancorp has a 52-week low of $9.19 and a 52-week high of $13.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 1.19.

BCB Bancorp (NASDAQ:BCBP) last posted its earnings results on Friday, July 19th. The bank reported $0.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.30 by ($0.16). The company had revenue of $20.41 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $24.65 million. BCB Bancorp had a return on equity of 7.42% and a net margin of 10.67%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that BCB Bancorp will post 1.32 EPS for the current year.

BCB Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 2nd were given a dividend of $0.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 2nd. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.11%. BCB Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.03%.

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.