Short Interest in BCB Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:BCBP) Increases By 9.8%

BCB Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:BCBP) saw a significant growth in short interest during the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 81,900 shares, a growth of 9.8% from the December 31st total of 74,600 shares. Currently, 0.6% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 43,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.9 days.

BCB Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BCBP opened at $10.66 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $181.75 million, a P/E ratio of 10.88 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. The company has a 50 day moving average of $12.00 and a 200 day moving average of $12.18. BCB Bancorp has a twelve month low of $9.19 and a twelve month high of $14.04.

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

BCB Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 24th. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th will be issued a $0.16 dividend. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. BCB Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.31%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on BCBP. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on BCB Bancorp from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on BCB Bancorp from $15.00 to $13.75 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th.

Insider Activity at BCB Bancorp

In other news, COO Ryan Blake sold 8,677 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.06, for a total value of $113,321.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 39,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $514,067.72. This trade represents a 18.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 28.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC bought a new position in shares of BCB Bancorp during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,450,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 46,302 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of BCB Bancorp in the 2nd quarter valued at about $334,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new position in shares of BCB Bancorp in the 3rd quarter valued at about $356,000. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in shares of BCB Bancorp by 235.3% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 22,375 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $277,000 after acquiring an additional 15,702 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 36.00% of the company’s stock.

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.