ECB Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:ECBK) Short Interest Up 30.3% in December

ECB Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:ECBK) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 9,900 shares, an increase of 30.3% from the December 15th total of 7,600 shares. Approximately 0.1% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 7,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.4 days.

ECB Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of ECBK stock traded up $0.14 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $14.49. 2,466 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,829. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $14.82 and a 200 day moving average price of $14.20. The company has a market cap of $132.15 million, a P/E ratio of 37.15 and a beta of 0.72. ECB Bancorp has a 12-month low of $11.39 and a 12-month high of $15.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 1.31 and a quick ratio of 1.31.

ECB Bancorp (NASDAQ:ECBK) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $0.14 earnings per share for the quarter. The company had revenue of $6.60 million for the quarter. ECB Bancorp had a net margin of 5.11% and a return on equity of 2.01%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ECB Bancorp

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its position in shares of ECB Bancorp by 3.7% during the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 36,400 shares of the company’s stock valued at $454,000 after acquiring an additional 1,300 shares during the last quarter. Eastern Bank bought a new stake in shares of ECB Bancorp in the 3rd quarter worth about $229,000. Finally, Sachetta LLC raised its position in shares of ECB Bancorp by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Sachetta LLC now owns 109,438 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,567,000 after buying an additional 2,333 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 30.27% of the company’s stock.

About ECB Bancorp

ECB Bancorp, Inc operating as a holding company for Everett Co-operative Bank that provides various banking products and services. The company accepts various deposit products, including certificate of deposit accounts, IRAs, money market accounts, savings accounts, demand deposit accounts, and interest-bearing and noninterest-bearing checking accounts.