California BanCorp (NASDAQ:BCAL) Rating Lowered to “Hold” at Zacks Research

California BanCorp (NASDAQ:BCAL) was downgraded by research analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

BCAL has been the subject of several other research reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of California BanCorp in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Raymond James Financial initiated coverage on shares of California BanCorp in a research report on Thursday, August 20th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $25.00 target price for the company. Stephens upped their price objective on shares of California BanCorp from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of California BanCorp from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, DA Davidson increased their price objective on shares of California BanCorp from $23.50 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, California BanCorp has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $24.50.

California BanCorp Stock Performance

NASDAQ BCAL opened at $21.37 on Monday. California BanCorp has a fifty-two week low of $15.85 and a fifty-two week high of $22.00. The stock has a market cap of $687.05 million, a PE ratio of 11.61 and a beta of 0.92. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $21.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $19.42.

California BanCorp (NASDAQ:BCAL) last posted its earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The company reported $0.44 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $44.08 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $45.07 million. California BanCorp had a return on equity of 10.44% and a net margin of 26.01%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that California BanCorp will post 1.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at California BanCorp

In other news, Director Lester Machado sold 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.19, for a total transaction of $158,925.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 22,391 shares in the company, valued at approximately $474,465.29. This represents a 25.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 8.14% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On California BanCorp

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in California BanCorp during the 2nd quarter valued at about $40,129,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of California BanCorp by 199.4% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,079,886 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,692,000 after purchasing an additional 1,385,202 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company bought a new position in shares of California BanCorp in the second quarter valued at approximately $16,501,000. Algebris UK Ltd. bought a new position in shares of California BanCorp in the second quarter valued at approximately $8,360,000. Finally, Maloon Powers Pitre Higgins & Dennehy LLC purchased a new position in shares of California BanCorp during the second quarter valued at approximately $3,551,000. Institutional investors own 55.40% of the company’s stock.

About California BanCorp

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.