California BanCorp (NASDAQ:BCAL) Short Interest Update

California BanCorp (NASDAQ:BCAL) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 416,873 shares, a growth of 21.6% from the February 26th total of 342,802 shares. Currently, 1.5% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 147,446 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.8 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of California BanCorp in a report on Monday, December 29th. DA Davidson cut their price objective on shares of California BanCorp from $22.50 to $21.50 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of California BanCorp from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $20.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other California BanCorp news, CFO Jean Carandang sold 8,000 shares of California BanCorp stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.90, for a total transaction of $143,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 37,174 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $665,414.60. The trade was a 17.71% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director David J. Volk purchased 27,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 3rd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $18.64 per share, with a total value of $503,280.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 28,195 shares in the company, valued at $525,554.80. The trade was a 2,259.41% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. 14.84% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of California BanCorp

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. boosted its stake in California BanCorp by 30.0% during the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 10,838 shares of the company’s stock worth $202,000 after purchasing an additional 2,504 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in California BanCorp by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 16,154 shares of the company’s stock valued at $302,000 after purchasing an additional 680 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in shares of California BanCorp by 73.0% in the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 111,124 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,075,000 after buying an additional 46,888 shares during the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd raised its holdings in shares of California BanCorp by 26.9% in the fourth quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 28,841 shares of the company’s stock valued at $538,000 after buying an additional 6,112 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zacks Investment Management acquired a new stake in shares of California BanCorp during the fourth quarter worth about $1,835,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 55.40% of the company’s stock.

California BanCorp Stock Performance

BCAL opened at $17.72 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $572.89 million, a P/E ratio of 9.18 and a beta of 1.17. California BanCorp has a one year low of $11.87 and a one year high of $20.47. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $18.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $18.27.

California BanCorp (NASDAQ:BCAL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The company reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $46.21 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $45.03 million. California BanCorp had a return on equity of 11.36% and a net margin of 26.60%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that California BanCorp will post 1.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

California BanCorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 24th will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 24th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. California BanCorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.73%.

California BanCorp Company Profile

California BanCorp (NASDAQ:BCAL) is a bank holding company headquartered in California. Founded to address the diverse financial needs of businesses and individuals across the state, the company focuses on community-oriented banking solutions and operates under a locally based decision-making model.

Through its wholly owned banking subsidiary, California BanCorp offers a suite of deposit products including checking, savings, money market and certificate of deposit accounts. Its lending portfolio encompasses commercial and industrial loans, real estate and construction financing, as well as consumer lending products such as personal loans and home equity lines of credit.

In addition to core deposit and lending services, the company provides treasury and cash management services, online and mobile banking platforms, and merchant payment solutions designed to streamline operations for small to mid-sized enterprises.