Northeast Community Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:NECB) Short Interest Down 14.4% in April

Key Points

• Short interest in Northeast Community Bancorp fell 14.4% in April to 87,148 shares, equal to 0.7% of the stock and a short-interest ratio (days to cover) of 2.3.
• The company reported an outsized quarterly EPS of $999.00, beating estimates by $998.25, while quarterly revenue of $24.93 million trailed the $26.42 million consensus.
• Northeast Community Bancorp declared a quarterly dividend of $0.20 (annualized $0.80, ~3.3% yield) and has seen recent analyst upgrades that leave its MarketBeat average rating at "Buy".

Northeast Community Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:NECB - Get Free Report) saw a significant drop in short interest in April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totaling 87,148 shares, a drop of 14.4% from the March 31st total of 101,820 shares. Currently, 0.7% of the company's stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 38,603 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.3 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NECB has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Northeast Community Bancorp from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Freedom Capital upgraded shares of Northeast Community Bancorp to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Buy".

Northeast Community Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of Northeast Community Bancorp stock traded up $0.15 during trading on Friday, hitting $24.15. 22,145 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 44,254. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.19. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $24.08 and a 200-day simple moving average of $22.81. Northeast Community Bancorp has a 52-week low of $19.27 and a 52-week high of $25.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $333.51 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.50 and a beta of 0.39.

Northeast Community Bancorp (NASDAQ:NECB - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The savings and loans company reported $999.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $998.25. Northeast Community Bancorp had a net margin of 28.16% and a return on equity of 12.73%. The firm had revenue of $24.93 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $26.42 million. On average, research analysts forecast that Northeast Community Bancorp will post 3.25 EPS for the current year.

Northeast Community Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 6th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 6th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. Northeast Community Bancorp's payout ratio is presently 24.54%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Larson Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Northeast Community Bancorp in the third quarter valued at $28,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its holdings in Northeast Community Bancorp by 193.8% in the third quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,457 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 961 shares in the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. increased its holdings in Northeast Community Bancorp by 109.9% in the fourth quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 1,522 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 797 shares in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc increased its holdings in Northeast Community Bancorp by 78.4% in the third quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 1,821 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its holdings in Northeast Community Bancorp by 4,381.1% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 3,316 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $75,000 after buying an additional 3,242 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 53.25% of the company's stock.

Northeast Community Bancorp Company Profile

Northeast Community Bancorp is the bank holding company for Northeast Bank, a full-service community bank headquartered in DeKalb, Illinois. Through its principal subsidiary, the company provides a range of deposit and lending products designed to meet the financial needs of individuals, families and small to mid-sized businesses in the northern Illinois market.

The company’s loan portfolio encompasses consumer and mortgage lending, home equity lines of credit, commercial real estate financing, SBA-guaranteed loans and agricultural credits.

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