Northeast Community Bancorp (NASDAQ:NECB) Upgraded to “Strong-Buy” at Freedom Capital

Northeast Community Bancorp (NASDAQ:NECB) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Freedom Capital to a “strong-buy” rating in a report released on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Separately, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Northeast Community Bancorp from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy”.

Northeast Community Bancorp Stock Performance

NASDAQ:NECB opened at $24.21 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $23.81 and a 200-day moving average of $22.24. Northeast Community Bancorp has a 1 year low of $19.27 and a 1 year high of $25.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $334.92 million, a P/E ratio of 7.43 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a current ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20.

Northeast Community Bancorp (NASDAQ:NECB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 30th. The savings and loans company reported $0.79 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.85 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $26.44 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $27.15 million. Northeast Community Bancorp had a net margin of 28.07% and a return on equity of 13.07%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Northeast Community Bancorp will post 3.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northeast Community Bancorp declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Monday, December 8th that permits the company to buyback $1.40 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the savings and loans company to buy up to 0.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of NECB. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its holdings in shares of Northeast Community Bancorp by 11.0% in the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 21,495 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $487,000 after purchasing an additional 2,138 shares during the last quarter. Mangrove Partners IM LLC increased its holdings in Northeast Community Bancorp by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Mangrove Partners IM LLC now owns 101,303 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $2,290,000 after acquiring an additional 1,349 shares during the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. raised its position in shares of Northeast Community Bancorp by 109.9% in the fourth quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 1,522 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 797 shares during the period. Brendel Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Northeast Community Bancorp during the fourth quarter worth $233,000. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in Northeast Community Bancorp by 9.8% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 19,563 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $445,000 after purchasing an additional 1,742 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 53.25% of the company’s stock.

About Northeast Community Bancorp

Northeast Community Bancorp is the bank holding company for Northeast Bank, a full-service community bank headquartered in DeKalb, Illinois. Through its principal subsidiary, the company provides a range of deposit and lending products designed to meet the financial needs of individuals, families and small to mid-sized businesses in the northern Illinois market.

The company’s loan portfolio encompasses consumer and mortgage lending, home equity lines of credit, commercial real estate financing, SBA-guaranteed loans and agricultural credits.