Short Interest in Northfield Bancorp, Inc. (Staten Island, NY) (NASDAQ:NFBK) Increases By 21.6%

Northfield Bancorp, Inc. (Staten Island, NY) (NASDAQ:NFBK) saw a significant growth in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 452,700 shares, a growth of 21.6% from the March 15th total of 372,300 shares. Currently, 1.2% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 181,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.5 days.

Northfield Bancorp, Inc. (Staten Island, NY) Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:NFBK traded up $0.10 during trading on Friday, hitting $9.66. 218,417 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 256,819. The company has a market capitalization of $412.25 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.42 and a beta of 0.68. Northfield Bancorp, Inc. has a 1-year low of $6.98 and a 1-year high of $14.39. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $10.97 and its 200-day simple moving average is $11.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.00.

Northfield Bancorp, Inc. (Staten Island, NY) (NASDAQ:NFBK) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The bank reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.18 by $0.03. Northfield Bancorp, Inc. (Staten Island, NY) had a net margin of 11.76% and a return on equity of 4.12%. Sell-side analysts expect that Northfield Bancorp, Inc. will post 0.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northfield Bancorp, Inc. (Staten Island, NY) Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 19th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 5th were given a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 5th. Northfield Bancorp, Inc. (Staten Island, NY)’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 72.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Northfield Bancorp, Inc. (Staten Island, NY)

In related news, Director Gil Chapman sold 11,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.89, for a total value of $130,790.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 48,005 shares in the company, valued at approximately $570,779.45. This represents a 18.64 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 6.48% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Northfield Bancorp, Inc. (Staten Island, NY)

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in NFBK. State Street Corp grew its position in Northfield Bancorp, Inc. (Staten Island, NY) by 36.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,442,937 shares of the bank’s stock worth $16,738,000 after acquiring an additional 385,711 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in Northfield Bancorp, Inc. (Staten Island, NY) by 221.4% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 280,119 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,249,000 after buying an additional 192,963 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in shares of Northfield Bancorp, Inc. (Staten Island, NY) by 134.0% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 146,596 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,703,000 after buying an additional 83,960 shares during the period. Barclays PLC grew its position in shares of Northfield Bancorp, Inc. (Staten Island, NY) by 526.2% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 89,471 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,038,000 after buying an additional 75,182 shares during the period. Finally, Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC lifted its stake in shares of Northfield Bancorp, Inc. (Staten Island, NY) by 106.5% in the 4th quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 122,927 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,428,000 after purchasing an additional 63,398 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.51% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on Northfield Bancorp, Inc. (Staten Island, NY) from $14.25 to $13.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th.

About Northfield Bancorp, Inc. (Staten Island, NY)

Northfield Bancorp, Inc (Staten Island, NY) operates as the bank holding company for Northfield Bank that provides various banking products and services primarily to individuals and corporate customers. It accepts various deposits products, including certificates of deposit, passbook, statement, and money market savings accounts; transaction deposit accounts comprising negotiable orders of withdrawal accounts, and interest and non-interest-bearing checking accounts; and brokered deposits.