Short Interest in Princeton Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPRN) Decreases By 21.1%

Key Points

• Short interest fell 21.1% in April to 34,301 shares (about 0.7% of shares outstanding), with a days-to-cover ratio of 3.5 based on average volume.
• Analysts have recently upgraded the stock and the consensus is a "Moderate Buy" with a $37.50 consensus target price after upgrades from Hovde Group, Weiss Ratings and Zacks moved ratings higher.
• Princeton Bancorp beat Q1 estimates (EPS $0.91 vs. $0.85 consensus) and announced a $0.35 quarterly dividend (annualized $1.40, ~3.9% yield) with an ex-dividend date of May 5.

Princeton Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPRN - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest during the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totaling 34,301 shares, a drop of 21.1% from the March 31st total of 43,486 shares. Approximately 0.7% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 9,766 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.5 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BPRN has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Hovde Group raised their price target on shares of Princeton Bancorp from $35.00 to $37.50 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Weiss Ratings upgraded Princeton Bancorp from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Princeton Bancorp from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, April 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Princeton Bancorp currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $37.50.

Princeton Bancorp Trading Down 0.1%

NASDAQ BPRN traded down $0.03 on Thursday, hitting $35.58. 1,567 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 14,139. The company has a market capitalization of $241.55 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.49 and a beta of 0.49. The business's 50 day moving average price is $34.51 and its 200-day moving average price is $34.37. Princeton Bancorp has a 52-week low of $29.21 and a 52-week high of $37.99.

Princeton Bancorp (NASDAQ:BPRN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.85 by $0.06. Princeton Bancorp had a net margin of 14.20% and a return on equity of 7.24%. The business had revenue of $21.31 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.06 million. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Princeton Bancorp will post 3.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Princeton Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 28th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 5th will be given a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 5th. Princeton Bancorp's payout ratio is presently 48.95%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Princeton Bancorp

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Quadrature Capital Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Princeton Bancorp in the fourth quarter worth $211,000. Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Princeton Bancorp by 54.6% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 13,779 shares of the company's stock worth $478,000 after buying an additional 4,868 shares in the last quarter. First Manhattan CO. LLC. lifted its holdings in shares of Princeton Bancorp by 21.1% in the fourth quarter. First Manhattan CO. LLC. now owns 42,990 shares of the company's stock worth $1,491,000 after buying an additional 7,500 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Princeton Bancorp by 43.1% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 12,577 shares of the company's stock worth $436,000 after buying an additional 3,789 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Princeton Bancorp by 30.6% in the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 12,647 shares of the company's stock worth $439,000 after buying an additional 2,961 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 43.36% of the company's stock.

Princeton Bancorp Company Profile

Princeton Bancorp, Inc is the bank holding company for Princeton Bank, a community-focused financial institution based in Princeton, New Jersey. Through its wholly owned subsidiary, the company offers a full suite of personal and business banking services designed to meet the needs of individuals, families and local enterprises in central and southern New Jersey.

The company’s core offerings include checking and savings accounts, consumer and commercial lending, mortgage origination and refinancing, as well as treasury management solutions for small-to-medium-sized businesses.

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