CPB Inc. (NYSE:CPF) Stock Now Rated "Moderate Buy" by Wall Street Analysts

Key Points

• Analyst sentiment is moderately positive: Six analysts give CPB an average “Moderate Buy” rating, with a consensus 12-month price target of $39.00 versus the stock’s $36.03 opening price.
• CPB exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $0.80 in EPS and $77.45 million in revenue, while maintaining a 22.52% net margin and 14.20% return on equity.
• The company raised its quarterly dividend to $0.30 per share, or $1.20 annually, representing a 3.3% yield; institutional investors own 88.42% of outstanding shares.

Shares of CPB Inc. (NYSE:CPF - Get Free Report) have received an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the six analysts that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, two have assigned a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $39.00.

Several research firms have recently commented on CPF. Zacks Research downgraded CPB from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 26th. Benchmark initiated coverage on CPB in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. They set a "buy" rating and a $44.00 price objective on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (a-)" rating on shares of CPB in a research note on Monday, September 14th. Finally, Hovde Group started coverage on shares of CPB in a research note on Friday. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $38.00 price objective for the company.

CPB Price Performance

NYSE:CPF opened at $36.03 on Friday. CPB has a one year low of $27.38 and a one year high of $40.99. The company has a market cap of $927.72 million, a P/E ratio of 11.55 and a beta of 0.87. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $37.93 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $36.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.84.

CPB (NYSE:CPF - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $77.45 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $75.69 million. CPB had a net margin of 22.52% and a return on equity of 14.20%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.67 EPS. Equities analysts expect that CPB will post 3.32 earnings per share for the current year.

CPB Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 31st were issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. This is a boost from CPB's previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 31st. CPB's payout ratio is 38.46%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CPB

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in shares of CPB during the 2nd quarter worth $11,926,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in CPB by 27.1% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 162,431 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $5,191,000 after buying an additional 34,591 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC acquired a new stake in CPB during the fourth quarter worth about $3,171,000. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in CPB by 94.9% in the 2nd quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 27,727 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,059,000 after buying an additional 13,499 shares during the period. Finally, Globeflex Capital L P acquired a new position in shares of CPB in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $900,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.42% of the company's stock.

About CPB

Central Pacific Financial Corp. is a bank holding company headquartered in Honolulu, Hawaii. Through its principal subsidiary, Central Pacific Bank, the company provides banking and financial services to consumers, businesses, nonprofit organizations and government entities throughout the Hawaiian Islands.

Central Pacific Bank offers deposit products, residential and commercial real estate loans, consumer lending, business loans, treasury management services, online and mobile banking, and wealth management solutions.

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