Short Interest in BCB Bancorp, Inc. (NJ) (NASDAQ:BCBP) Increases By 22.7%

BCB Bancorp, Inc. (NJ) (NASDAQ:BCBP) saw a large increase in short interest in the month of March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 559,586 shares, an increase of 22.7% from the February 26th total of 456,121 shares. Approximately 3.7% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 88,217 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 6.3 days.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Mark D. Hogan bought 5,000 shares of BCB Bancorp, Inc. (NJ) stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 27th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $7.97 per share, for a total transaction of $39,850.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 103,352 shares in the company, valued at approximately $823,715.44. This represents a 5.08% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 13.87% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BCB Bancorp, Inc. (NJ)

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of BCBP. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of BCB Bancorp, Inc. (NJ) by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 424,874 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,429,000 after purchasing an additional 13,161 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in BCB Bancorp, Inc. (NJ) by 11.2% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 166,549 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,344,000 after buying an additional 16,742 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in BCB Bancorp, Inc. (NJ) by 44.5% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 127,151 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,026,000 after buying an additional 39,146 shares in the last quarter. Trexquant Investment LP boosted its position in BCB Bancorp, Inc. (NJ) by 63.3% in the 4th quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 99,171 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $800,000 after buying an additional 38,441 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Root Financial Partners LLC boosted its position in BCB Bancorp, Inc. (NJ) by 14.7% in the 4th quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 82,000 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $662,000 after buying an additional 10,500 shares during the last quarter. 36.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on BCB Bancorp, Inc. (NJ) from $8.50 to $9.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of BCB Bancorp, Inc. (NJ) in a research report on Friday. Zacks Research raised shares of BCB Bancorp, Inc. (NJ) from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of BCB Bancorp, Inc. (NJ) from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $9.00.

BCB Bancorp, Inc. (NJ) Price Performance

BCBP traded up $0.03 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $9.01. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 59,109 shares, compared to its average volume of 95,317. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $156.43 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.80 and a beta of 0.74. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $8.24 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $8.17. BCB Bancorp, Inc. has a 12 month low of $7.31 and a 12 month high of $10.05.

BCB Bancorp, Inc. (NJ) (NASDAQ:BCBP) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 30th. The bank reported ($0.73) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.14 by ($0.87). BCB Bancorp, Inc. (NJ) had a negative return on equity of 4.35% and a negative net margin of 6.90%.The business had revenue of $26.17 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.22 million. Sell-side analysts forecast that BCB Bancorp, Inc. will post 1.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BCB Bancorp, Inc. (NJ) Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 11th were given a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 11th. BCB Bancorp, Inc. (NJ)’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -38.10%.

About BCB Bancorp, Inc. (NJ)

BCB Bancorp, Inc is a bank holding company incorporated in New Jersey and traded on the NASDAQ under the symbol BCBP. Its primary subsidiary, Bergen Commercial Bank, operates as a full-service community bank focused on serving the financial needs of individuals and businesses in the New York metropolitan area. Headquartered in Clifton, New Jersey, the company has built its reputation on personalized banking relationships and local decision-making.

BCB Bancorp offers a comprehensive suite of deposit products, including checking accounts, savings accounts, money market accounts, and certificates of deposit.