Brookline Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:BRKL) Short Interest Up 7.8% in December

Brookline Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:BRKL) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,800,000 shares, an increase of 7.8% from the December 15th total of 1,670,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 697,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.6 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BRKL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Raymond James raised Brookline Bancorp from a “market perform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $16.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, December 20th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut shares of Brookline Bancorp from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $14.50 price target for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, December 24th. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Brookline Bancorp in a report on Sunday. They set a “hold” rating for the company.

Brookline Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BRKL opened at $12.00 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $12.17 and its 200 day moving average is $10.87. The stock has a market cap of $1.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.46 and a beta of 0.79. Brookline Bancorp has a 1-year low of $8.01 and a 1-year high of $13.15. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22.

Brookline Bancorp (NASDAQ:BRKL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The bank reported $0.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.20 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $165.91 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $88.67 million. Brookline Bancorp had a return on equity of 6.20% and a net margin of 11.40%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.26 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Brookline Bancorp will post 0.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Brookline Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th were issued a dividend of $0.135 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $0.54 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.50%. Brookline Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.06%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in Brookline Bancorp by 36.7% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 878,717 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $10,369,000 after acquiring an additional 236,066 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in shares of Brookline Bancorp by 124.2% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 2,879 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 1,595 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Brookline Bancorp by 109.4% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 647,100 shares of the bank’s stock worth $6,529,000 after buying an additional 338,050 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Brookline Bancorp by 1.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,089,187 shares of the bank’s stock worth $21,084,000 after buying an additional 26,714 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its position in Brookline Bancorp by 99.8% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 212,904 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,149,000 after acquiring an additional 106,345 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.91% of the company’s stock.

Brookline Bancorp Company Profile

Brookline Bancorp, Inc operates as a bank holding company for the Brookline Bank that provide commercial, business, and retail banking services to corporate, municipal, and retail customers in the United States. Its deposit products include demand checking, NOW, money market, and savings accounts. The company’s loan portfolio primarily comprises first mortgage loans secured by commercial, multi-family, and residential real estate properties; loans to business entities comprising commercial lines of credit; loans to condominium associations; loans and leases used to finance equipment for small businesses; financing for construction and development projects; and home equity and other consumer loans.