Central Pacific Financial Corp. (NYSE:CPF) Short Interest Up 6.4% in October

Central Pacific Financial Corp. (NYSE:CPF) saw a large growth in short interest in October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 698,800 shares, a growth of 6.4% from the September 30th total of 656,500 shares. Currently, 2.7% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 231,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.0 days.

Central Pacific Financial Stock Performance

NYSE:CPF traded up $0.15 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $27.09. 172,314 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 191,713. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.86. Central Pacific Financial has a 52-week low of $16.27 and a 52-week high of $30.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $733.06 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.90 and a beta of 1.13. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $28.13 and its 200-day moving average price is $24.11.

Central Pacific Financial (NYSE:CPF) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $66.59 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $65.22 million. Central Pacific Financial had a net margin of 16.10% and a return on equity of 11.44%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Central Pacific Financial will post 2.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Central Pacific Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be paid a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. Central Pacific Financial’s payout ratio is 49.52%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Central Pacific Financial

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Central Pacific Financial by 0.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,089,447 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $41,267,000 after acquiring an additional 17,058 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Central Pacific Financial by 5.9% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,404,043 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,765,000 after purchasing an additional 77,868 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management grew its position in Central Pacific Financial by 10.7% during the second quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 663,230 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $14,060,000 after buying an additional 63,862 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its holdings in Central Pacific Financial by 3.6% in the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 550,400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $11,668,000 after buying an additional 19,247 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Central Pacific Financial by 16.6% in the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 539,882 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $11,442,000 after acquiring an additional 76,957 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.42% of the company’s stock.

About Central Pacific Financial

Central Pacific Financial Corp. operates as the bank holding company for Central Pacific Bank that provides a range of commercial banking products and services to businesses, professionals, and individuals in the United States. It offers various deposit products and services, including checking, savings and time deposits, cash management and digital banking, trust, and retail brokerage services, as well as money market accounts and certificates of deposit.