Central Pacific Financial Corp. (NYSE:CPF) Short Interest Up 33.7% in December

Central Pacific Financial Corp. (NYSE:CPF) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 577,700 shares, a growth of 33.7% from the December 15th total of 432,000 shares. Currently, 2.2% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 231,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.5 days.

Central Pacific Financial Stock Performance

NYSE CPF opened at $28.59 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $773.93 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.61 and a beta of 1.19. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $29.89 and a 200 day simple moving average of $27.76. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Central Pacific Financial has a twelve month low of $18.00 and a twelve month high of $33.25.

Central Pacific Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th were issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.64%. Central Pacific Financial’s payout ratio is 49.52%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded Central Pacific Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Central Pacific Financial

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Central Pacific Financial by 5.9% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,404,043 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,765,000 after buying an additional 77,868 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Central Pacific Financial by 4.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 640,369 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $18,901,000 after purchasing an additional 24,686 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its holdings in shares of Central Pacific Financial by 3.6% during the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 550,400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $11,668,000 after acquiring an additional 19,247 shares in the last quarter. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. acquired a new position in shares of Central Pacific Financial during the third quarter worth approximately $15,455,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in Central Pacific Financial by 17.8% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 511,590 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $10,846,000 after purchasing an additional 77,265 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 88.42% of the company’s stock.

Central Pacific Financial Company Profile

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.