Southern California Bancorp (NASDAQ:BCAL) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Southern California Bancorp (NASDAQ:BCAL - Get Free Report) was the target of a large growth in short interest in the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 362,300 shares, a growth of 6.5% from the December 31st total of 340,300 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 69,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 5.2 days. Approximately 1.6% of the company's stock are short sold.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southern California Bancorp

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BCAL. Barclays PLC grew its position in Southern California Bancorp by 177.3% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 36,756 shares of the company's stock valued at $544,000 after buying an additional 23,499 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Southern California Bancorp by 99.0% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 66,012 shares of the company's stock worth $976,000 after acquiring an additional 32,848 shares in the last quarter. Petiole USA ltd grew its position in shares of Southern California Bancorp by 130.1% during the 3rd quarter. Petiole USA ltd now owns 195,604 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,893,000 after acquiring an additional 110,604 shares during the period. MAI Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of Southern California Bancorp during the 3rd quarter valued at about $801,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of Southern California Bancorp by 417.3% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 26,508 shares of the company's stock valued at $392,000 after purchasing an additional 21,384 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.40% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, DA Davidson reduced their price objective on shares of Southern California Bancorp from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th.

Southern California Bancorp Stock Performance

BCAL stock traded up $0.15 on Thursday, hitting $16.10. 41,748 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 67,344. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $16.42 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $15.52. Southern California Bancorp has a 12-month low of $12.30 and a 12-month high of $18.49. The stock has a market cap of $517.94 million, a P/E ratio of 84.74 and a beta of 1.11.

Southern California Bancorp (NASDAQ:BCAL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The company reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.08. Southern California Bancorp had a net margin of 2.94% and a return on equity of 8.97%. Sell-side analysts expect that Southern California Bancorp will post 1.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Southern California Bancorp

Southern California Bancorp operates as the holding company for Bank of Southern California, N.A. that provides various financial products to individuals, professionals, and small-to medium-sized businesses. The company offers checking, personal and business savings, and money market accounts, as well as certificates of deposit.