California BanCorp (NASDAQ:BCAL) Given Consensus Rating of “Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of California BanCorp (NASDAQ:BCAL) have received a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the five brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, three have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $20.3333.

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

California BanCorp Price Performance

Shares of BCAL opened at $18.25 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $589.84 million, a PE ratio of 9.41 and a beta of 1.19. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $19.10 and a 200-day moving average of $17.41. California BanCorp has a one year low of $11.87 and a one year high of $20.47.

California BanCorp (NASDAQ:BCAL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The company reported $0.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.39 by $0.09. California BanCorp had a net margin of 26.26% and a return on equity of 11.85%. The company had revenue of $45.18 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $44.02 million. Analysts expect that California BanCorp will post 1.81 earnings per share for the current year.

California BanCorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 24th will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 24th. California BanCorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.62%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BCAL. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position 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 valued at $34,692,000 after acquiring an additional 1,385,202 shares during the period. FJ Capital Management LLC raised its stake in California BanCorp by 20.2% in the 2nd quarter. FJ Capital Management LLC now owns 1,271,636 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,041,000 after purchasing an additional 213,711 shares in the last quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC raised its stake in California BanCorp by 77.1% in the 3rd quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 363,664 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,066,000 after purchasing an additional 158,270 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of California BanCorp by 44.4% during the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 218,677 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,648,000 after purchasing an additional 67,238 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP grew its position in shares of California BanCorp by 305.9% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 88,808 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,400,000 after purchasing an additional 66,931 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 55.40% of the company’s stock.

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.