OP Bancorp (NASDAQ:OPBK) Short Interest Update

OP Bancorp (NASDAQ:OPBK) was the target of a large drop in short interest during the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totaling 140,435 shares, a drop of 17.0% from the March 31st total of 169,275 shares. Approximately 1.2% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 41,144 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.4 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on OPBK shares. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $17.00 price objective on shares of OP Bancorp in a research note on Tuesday. Wall Street Zen raised OP Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 25th. Weiss Ratings raised OP Bancorp from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Finally, Zacks Research raised OP Bancorp from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, OP Bancorp presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $16.50.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in OPBK. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of OP Bancorp by 6.3% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 19,687 shares of the company’s stock worth $274,000 after buying an additional 1,160 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its holdings in shares of OP Bancorp by 96.7% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 2,492 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 1,225 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of OP Bancorp by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 45,876 shares of the company’s stock worth $648,000 after buying an additional 1,631 shares during the period. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in shares of OP Bancorp by 10.6% in the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 18,376 shares of the company’s stock worth $259,000 after buying an additional 1,754 shares during the period. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in shares of OP Bancorp by 3.5% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 54,763 shares of the company’s stock worth $658,000 after buying an additional 1,834 shares during the period. 53.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

OP Bancorp Trading Up 2.3%

Shares of OPBK stock traded up $0.33 on Friday, reaching $14.67. 34,434 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 39,723. OP Bancorp has a 52 week low of $11.52 and a 52 week high of $15.27. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $218.44 million, a PE ratio of 8.06 and a beta of 0.62. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $13.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $13.79.

OP Bancorp (NASDAQ:OPBK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The company reported $0.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.07. OP Bancorp had a return on equity of 12.36% and a net margin of 16.12%.The firm had revenue of $24.56 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.37 million. As a group, analysts forecast that OP Bancorp will post 1.9 EPS for the current year.

OP Bancorp Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 21st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 7th will be issued a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 7th. This is a boost from OP Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.8%. OP Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.37%.

OP Bancorp Company Profile

OP Bancorp is the bank holding company for Old Point National Bank, a community-focused financial institution headquartered in Suffolk, Virginia. Through its subsidiary, the company offers a broad range of commercial and consumer banking services designed to meet the needs of businesses, professionals and individuals across the Hampton Roads and Virginia Peninsula regions. Core services include business lending, real estate financing, deposit accounts, cash management solutions and treasury services.

The company’s lending portfolio spans commercial real estate loans, construction and land development financing, equipment loans and lines of credit tailored for small and medium-sized enterprises.