California BanCorp (NASDAQ:BCAL) Receives Average Recommendation of “Buy” from Analysts

California BanCorp (NASDAQ:BCAL) has been assigned an average rating of “Buy” from the five analysts that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $20.3333.

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. DA Davidson set a $21.00 price objective on California BanCorp in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on California BanCorp from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Zacks Research upgraded California BanCorp from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 19th. Wall Street Zen lowered California BanCorp from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, November 16th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of California BanCorp in a research report on Monday, December 8th.

California BanCorp Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of NASDAQ BCAL opened at $19.60 on Tuesday. California BanCorp has a 12 month low of $11.87 and a 12 month high of $20.47. The company has a market cap of $633.47 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.10 and a beta of 1.17. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $18.36 and a 200-day simple moving average of $16.88.

California BanCorp (NASDAQ:BCAL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The company reported $0.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.39 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $45.11 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $44.02 million. California BanCorp had a return on equity of 11.85% and a net margin of 26.26%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect 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 Thursday, January 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 24th will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 24th.

Institutional Trading of California BanCorp

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in California BanCorp by 199.4% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,079,886 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,692,000 after buying an additional 1,385,202 shares during the period. FJ Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of California BanCorp by 300.6% during the first quarter. FJ Capital Management LLC now owns 1,057,925 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,160,000 after buying an additional 793,828 shares during the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in California BanCorp in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $2,837,000. Kennedy Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in California BanCorp by 77.1% in the third quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 363,664 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,066,000 after purchasing an additional 158,270 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of California BanCorp by 44.4% in the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 218,677 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,648,000 after acquiring an additional 67,238 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.40% of the company’s stock.

California BanCorp Company Profile

Southern California Bancorp operates as the holding company for Bank of Southern California, N.A. that provides various financial products to individuals, professionals, and small-to medium-sized businesses. The company offers checking, personal and business savings, and money market accounts, as well as certificates of deposit.