Short Interest in Central Pacific Financial Corp. (NYSE:CPF) Grows By 55.8%

Central Pacific Financial Corp. (NYSE:CPF) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 691,100 shares, an increase of 55.8% from the March 31st total of 443,600 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 184,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.7 days. Approximately 2.6% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Piper Sandler raised their target price on Central Pacific Financial from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st.

Central Pacific Financial Price Performance

Shares of Central Pacific Financial stock traded up $0.13 on Monday, hitting $20.25. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 59,813 shares, compared to its average volume of 177,495. The company has a market capitalization of $547.56 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.88 and a beta of 1.15. Central Pacific Financial has a 1 year low of $13.22 and a 1 year high of $22.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.86. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $19.15 and a 200-day moving average price of $18.59.

Central Pacific Financial (NYSE:CPF) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $61.43 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $60.78 million. Central Pacific Financial had a return on equity of 11.34% and a net margin of 16.44%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Central Pacific Financial will post 2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Central Pacific Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Investors of record on Friday, May 31st will be given a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.14%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 30th. Central Pacific Financial’s payout ratio is 50.73%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Agnes Catherine Ngo sold 3,333 shares of Central Pacific Financial stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.32, for a total transaction of $64,393.56. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 88,689 shares in the company, valued at $1,713,471.48. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 9,999 shares of company stock valued at $192,547. 2.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Central Pacific Financial by 61.0% during the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 25,465 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $425,000 after purchasing an additional 9,644 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Central Pacific Financial by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 14,675 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $245,000 after acquiring an additional 841 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Central Pacific Financial by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 33,200 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $554,000 after acquiring an additional 1,650 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in shares of Central Pacific Financial by 240.4% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 265,006 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,420,000 after acquiring an additional 187,164 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund acquired a new stake in Central Pacific Financial during the third quarter worth about $282,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.42% of the company’s stock.

About Central Pacific Financial

Central Pacific Financial Corp. operates as the bank holding company for Central Pacific Bank that provides a range of commercial banking products and services to businesses, professionals, and individuals in the United States. It offers various deposit products and services, including checking, savings and time deposits, cash management and digital banking, trust, and retail brokerage services, as well as money market accounts and certificates of deposit.