Brookline Bancorp (NASDAQ:BRKL) Shares Gap Up – Still a Buy?

Brookline Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:BRKL)’s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $11.53, but opened at $11.78. Brookline Bancorp shares last traded at $11.81, with a volume of 214,315 shares traded.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on BRKL. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Brookline Bancorp from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $12.00 to $14.50 in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Raymond James upgraded Brookline Bancorp from a “market perform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $16.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Brookline Bancorp currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $14.17.

Brookline Bancorp Stock Up 3.6 %

The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $11.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $10.34. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22. The stock has a market cap of $1.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.39 and a beta of 0.78.

Brookline Bancorp (NASDAQ:BRKL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The bank reported $0.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.20 by $0.03. Brookline Bancorp had a net margin of 11.40% and a return on equity of 6.20%. The company had revenue of $165.91 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $88.67 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.26 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Brookline Bancorp, Inc. will post 0.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Brookline Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th were issued a dividend of $0.135 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $0.54 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.52%. Brookline Bancorp’s payout ratio is 65.06%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Brookline Bancorp

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. EMC Capital Management lifted its holdings in shares of Brookline Bancorp by 13.0% in the third quarter. EMC Capital Management now owns 15,829 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $160,000 after purchasing an additional 1,819 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its stake in Brookline Bancorp by 5.2% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 40,432 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $338,000 after acquiring an additional 2,002 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its stake in Brookline Bancorp by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 64,734 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $653,000 after acquiring an additional 2,730 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position in Brookline Bancorp by 174.9% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,154 shares of the bank’s stock worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 3,279 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. raised its holdings in shares of Brookline Bancorp by 7.1% in the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 51,037 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $426,000 after purchasing an additional 3,397 shares during the last quarter. 78.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Brookline Bancorp

Brookline Bancorp, Inc operates as a bank holding company for the Brookline Bank that provide commercial, business, and retail banking services to corporate, municipal, and retail customers in the United States. Its deposit products include demand checking, NOW, money market, and savings accounts. The company’s loan portfolio primarily comprises first mortgage loans secured by commercial, multi-family, and residential real estate properties; loans to business entities comprising commercial lines of credit; loans to condominium associations; loans and leases used to finance equipment for small businesses; financing for construction and development projects; and home equity and other consumer loans.