Brookline Bancorp (NASDAQ:BRKL) Research Coverage Started at StockNews.com

StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Brookline Bancorp (NASDAQ:BRKL) in a research note released on Sunday. The brokerage issued a hold rating on the bank’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently weighed in on BRKL. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut shares of Brookline Bancorp from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $14.50 price target on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. Raymond James upgraded shares of Brookline Bancorp from a “market perform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $16.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 20th.

Brookline Bancorp Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of BRKL stock opened at $12.14 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $1.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.63 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22. Brookline Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $8.01 and a fifty-two week high of $13.15. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $12.15 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $10.90.

Brookline Bancorp (NASDAQ:BRKL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The bank reported $0.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.20 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $165.91 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $88.67 million. Brookline Bancorp had a net margin of 11.40% and a return on equity of 6.20%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.26 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Brookline Bancorp will post 0.82 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Brookline Bancorp

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in shares of Brookline Bancorp by 36.7% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 878,717 shares of the bank’s stock worth $10,369,000 after buying an additional 236,066 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in shares of Brookline Bancorp by 124.2% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 2,879 shares of the bank’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 1,595 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of Brookline Bancorp by 109.4% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 647,100 shares of the bank’s stock worth $6,529,000 after buying an additional 338,050 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Brookline Bancorp by 1.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,089,187 shares of the bank’s stock worth $21,084,000 after buying an additional 26,714 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its stake in shares of Brookline Bancorp by 99.8% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 212,904 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,149,000 after buying an additional 106,345 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.91% of the company’s stock.

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.