Short Interest in BCB Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:BCBP) Drops By 6.3%

BCB Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:BCBP - Get Free Report) was the target of a large decline in short interest during the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 81,500 shares, a decline of 6.3% from the September 30th total of 87,000 shares. Currently, 0.6% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 46,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.8 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BCB Bancorp

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. CWM LLC boosted its holdings in shares of BCB Bancorp by 1,232.6% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,492 shares of the bank's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 2,305 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its holdings in BCB Bancorp by 92.5% in the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 7,201 shares of the bank's stock valued at $75,000 after acquiring an additional 3,460 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in BCB Bancorp during the second quarter valued at about $119,000. Quadrature Capital Ltd increased its stake in BCB Bancorp by 25.1% during the first quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 17,348 shares of the bank's stock worth $181,000 after acquiring an additional 3,483 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in BCB Bancorp during the second quarter worth about $334,000. 36.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BCB Bancorp Trading Down 1.7 %

Shares of BCB Bancorp stock traded down $0.21 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $12.14. 40,501 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 47,771. The stock has a market capitalization of $205.86 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.89 and a beta of 0.57. BCB Bancorp has a twelve month low of $9.19 and a twelve month high of $13.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $12.25 and a 200 day simple moving average of $11.19.

BCB Bancorp (NASDAQ:BCBP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 18th. The bank reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $51.75 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.29 million. BCB Bancorp had a net margin of 10.67% and a return on equity of 7.42%. Research analysts forecast that BCB Bancorp will post 1.32 EPS for the current year.

BCB Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, November 1st will be paid a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 1st. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.27%. BCB Bancorp's payout ratio is currently 41.03%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on BCBP shares. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of BCB Bancorp from $11.50 to $14.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on BCB Bancorp from $13.25 to $13.50 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd.

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.