Short Interest in Parke Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:PKBK) Decreases By 31.0%

Parke Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:PKBK) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest in April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totaling 100,760 shares, a drop of 31.0% from the March 31st total of 146,048 shares. Currently, 1.0% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 134,264 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 0.8 days.

Parke Bancorp Trading Up 0.2%

NASDAQ:PKBK traded up $0.06 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $30.11. The company had a trading volume of 64,572 shares, compared to its average volume of 93,152. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 1.22 and a quick ratio of 1.22. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $28.55 and a 200 day moving average price of $25.79. The company has a market capitalization of $353.22 million, a PE ratio of 8.60 and a beta of 0.48. Parke Bancorp has a 52 week low of $18.57 and a 52 week high of $31.45.

Parke Bancorp (NASDAQ:PKBK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 17th. The bank reported $0.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The business had revenue of $22.99 million for the quarter. Parke Bancorp had a net margin of 28.04% and a return on equity of 13.20%.

Parke Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 3rd were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 2nd. Parke Bancorp’s payout ratio is presently 20.57%.

Insider Activity at Parke Bancorp

In other news, CEO Vito S. Pantilione bought 1,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $30.37 per share, for a total transaction of $39,481.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer owned 237,429 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,210,718.73. This trade represents a 0.55% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Nicholas J. Pantilione sold 14,675 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.29, for a total transaction of $415,155.75. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 1,850 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $52,336.50. The trade was a 88.80% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders bought 2,000 shares of company stock worth $59,281 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 12.97% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PKBK. Marex Group plc purchased a new position in Parke Bancorp during the 4th quarter valued at $11,889,000. Fourthstone LLC increased its position in Parke Bancorp by 52.9% during the 4th quarter. Fourthstone LLC now owns 620,899 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $15,547,000 after purchasing an additional 214,945 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in Parke Bancorp by 228.3% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 105,700 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,991,000 after purchasing an additional 73,505 shares during the period. Citadel Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Parke Bancorp during the third quarter valued at $532,000. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC lifted its position in Parke Bancorp by 21.9% during the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 115,728 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,877,000 after buying an additional 20,756 shares during the period. 49.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Parke Bancorp in a research report on Friday, March 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, Parke Bancorp currently has an average rating of “Buy”.

About Parke Bancorp

Parke Bancorp, Inc is the bank holding company for Parke Bank, a community-oriented financial institution headquartered in Kittanning, Pennsylvania. The company delivers a full range of retail and commercial banking services to individuals, small businesses and agricultural clients through a network of branches and ATMs, supported by secure online and mobile banking platforms.

Its product lineup includes deposit accounts—such as checking, savings, money market accounts and certificates of deposit—alongside a variety of lending solutions.