Short Interest in Parke Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:PKBK) Rises By 23.0%

Parke Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:PKBK) was the target of a large growth in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 43,300 shares, a growth of 23.0% from the February 28th total of 35,200 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 25,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.7 days. Approximately 0.5% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded Parke Bancorp from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 28th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Parke Bancorp

In other Parke Bancorp news, Director Jeffrey H. Kripitz sold 6,101 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.12, for a total value of $122,752.12. Following the sale, the director now owns 54,353 shares in the company, valued at $1,093,582.36. The trade was a 10.09 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders sold a total of 7,160 shares of company stock valued at $143,947 in the last three months. 15.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Parke Bancorp

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of PKBK. Ategra Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Parke Bancorp by 52.1% during the fourth quarter. Ategra Capital Management LLC now owns 344,741 shares of the bank’s stock worth $7,071,000 after buying an additional 118,069 shares during the period. Citadel Advisors LLC bought a new position in Parke Bancorp during the 4th quarter valued at about $617,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Parke Bancorp by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 522,646 shares of the bank’s stock worth $10,720,000 after purchasing an additional 27,354 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Parke Bancorp by 135.8% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 37,926 shares of the bank’s stock worth $778,000 after purchasing an additional 21,841 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership purchased a new position in shares of Parke Bancorp during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $426,000. Institutional investors own 49.69% of the company’s stock.

Parke Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of PKBK traded up $0.27 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $19.08. 26,941 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 24,469. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $19.40 and a two-hundred day moving average of $20.70. Parke Bancorp has a 52-week low of $15.24 and a 52-week high of $24.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.27. The company has a market cap of $225.96 million, a PE ratio of 8.41 and a beta of 0.73.

Parke Bancorp (NASDAQ:PKBK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The bank reported $0.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Parke Bancorp had a net margin of 21.25% and a return on equity of 9.41%.

Parke Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be paid a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.77%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. Parke Bancorp’s payout ratio is 31.72%.

About Parke Bancorp

Parke Bancorp, Inc operates as the bank holding company for Parke Bank that provides personal and business financial services to individuals and small to mid-sized businesses. The company offers various deposit products, including checking, savings, time, money market, and individual retirement accounts, as well as certificates of deposit.