Parke Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:PKBK) Short Interest Up 21.7% in March

Parke Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:PKBK) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 52,700 shares, a growth of 21.7% from the March 15th total of 43,300 shares. Currently, 0.6% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 25,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.1 days.

Parke Bancorp Stock Performance

PKBK stock traded up $0.39 on Friday, reaching $17.54. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 20,571 shares, compared to its average volume of 24,583. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $18.74 and a two-hundred day moving average of $20.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.27. The company has a market capitalization of $207.73 million, a P/E ratio of 7.73 and a beta of 0.56. Parke Bancorp has a 52 week low of $15.24 and a 52 week high of $24.29.

Parke Bancorp (NASDAQ:PKBK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The bank reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Parke Bancorp had a return on equity of 9.41% and a net margin of 21.25%. The company had revenue of $17.43 million during the quarter.

Parke Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 4th were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 4th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.10%. Parke Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.88%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other 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 transaction of $122,752.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 54,353 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,093,582.36. The trade was a 10.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders have sold 7,160 shares of company stock valued at $143,947 over the last quarter. Insiders own 15.33% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Ategra Capital Management LLC raised its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 118,069 shares in the last quarter. Citadel Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Parke Bancorp in the 4th quarter worth $617,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Parke Bancorp by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 522,646 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $10,720,000 after buying an additional 27,354 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Parke Bancorp by 135.8% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 37,926 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $778,000 after buying an additional 21,841 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership acquired a new position in Parke Bancorp during the fourth quarter worth about $426,000. 49.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.