Central Pacific Financial Corp. Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

Central Pacific Financial Corp. (NYSE:CPF) experienced a notable decline in short interest over the month of December. As reported, by December 15th, the total short interest had dropped to 432,000 shares, marking a decrease of 31.8% from the previous month's total of 633,100 shares. Presently, this means that 1.6% of the company's total shares are sold short. Given the average trading volume of 230,900 shares, the short-interest ratio currently stands at 1.9 days.

Institutional Investment Changes

Recent activities by institutional investors and hedge funds indicate varying changes in their stakes in Central Pacific Financial. For instance, Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. acquired a new position worth $15,455,000 during the third quarter. Moreover, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake by 143.4% in the same period, now holding 456,132 shares valued at approximately $13,460,000, after buying an additional 268,719 shares. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings by 5.9% in the second quarter, acquiring 1,404,043 shares worth around $29,765,000 after adding 77,868 shares. Similarly, American Century Companies Inc. expanded its position by 17.8%, now owning 511,590 shares valued at $10,846,000 following an additional purchase of 77,265 shares. Lastly, Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its holdings by 16.6% during the second quarter, now possessing 539,882 shares valued at $11,442,000. Notably, approximately 88.42% of Central Pacific Financial's shares are held by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Reactions from Analysts

In an important move, StockNews.com downgraded Central Pacific Financial’s shares from a “hold” to a “sell” rating in a research report published on December 10th.

Stock Performance Overview

In terms of stock performance, shares of NYSE:CPF saw an increase of $0.16 during Monday's trading, reaching a price of $28.94. A total of 41,575 shares changed hands, which is lower than the average trading volume of 199,191 shares. Over the past year, Central Pacific Financial's stock has fluctuated between a low of $18.00 and a high of $33.25. The company holds a market capitalization of approximately $783.26 million, has a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 13.78, and a beta of 1.18. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $30.11, while the 200-day moving average stands at $27.08. Financially, the company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, while both its current ratio and quick ratio are at 0.85.

Dividend Declaration

Recently, Central Pacific Financial announced a quarterly dividend of $0.26 per share, which was distributed on December 16th to investors on record as of November 29th. This translates to an annualized dividend of $1.04, leading to a yield of 3.59%. The ex-dividend date for this payment was also set for November 29th. Currently, the company's dividend payout ratio stands at 49.52%.

About Central Pacific Financial Corp.

Central Pacific Financial Corp. serves as the bank holding company for Central Pacific Bank, providing a variety of commercial banking products and services tailored for businesses, professionals, and individuals throughout the United States. Its offerings include several deposit products and services, such as checking accounts, savings accounts, time deposits, cash management, digital banking, trust services, retail brokerage services, as well as money market accounts and certificates of deposit.

Financial, Investment, Market