Southern California Bancorp (NASDAQ:BCAL) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Southern California Bancorp (NASDAQ:BCAL) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 439,600 shares, a growth of 5.3% from the September 30th total of 417,600 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 72,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 6.1 days. Currently, 1.9% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Lester Machado sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.37, for a total transaction of $143,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 15,437 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $221,829.69. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 19.64% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Southern California Bancorp

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Endeavour Capital Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Southern California Bancorp by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Endeavour Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 1,131,513 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,241,000 after acquiring an additional 8,521 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its position in shares of Southern California Bancorp by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 267,898 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,609,000 after purchasing an additional 6,266 shares during the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Southern California Bancorp by 8.8% during the 2nd quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 124,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,670,000 after purchasing an additional 10,000 shares during the last quarter. Keystone Wealth Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern California Bancorp during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $617,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in shares of Southern California Bancorp during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $461,000. Institutional investors own 55.40% of the company’s stock.

Southern California Bancorp Stock Up 0.3 %

BCAL stock opened at $14.62 on Friday. Southern California Bancorp has a twelve month low of $12.30 and a twelve month high of $18.00. The stock has a market cap of $271.20 million, a P/E ratio of -182.75 and a beta of 0.74. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $14.48 and its 200-day moving average price is $14.20.

Southern California Bancorp (NASDAQ:BCAL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 12th. The company reported $0.03 EPS for the quarter. Southern California Bancorp had a positive return on equity of 6.72% and a negative net margin of 4.51%. The company had revenue of $22.18 million for the quarter. On average, equities research analysts expect that Southern California Bancorp will post 1.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on Southern California Bancorp from $23.00 to $19.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 2nd.

About Southern California Bancorp

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.