Raymond James Upgrades Brookline Bancorp (NASDAQ:BRKL) to “Strong-Buy”

Brookline Bancorp (NASDAQ:BRKL) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Raymond James from a “market perform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report released on Friday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm presently has a $16.00 price objective on the bank’s stock. Raymond James’ target price indicates a potential upside of 34.00% from the stock’s previous close.

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Brookline Bancorp from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $12.00 to $14.50 in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Brookline Bancorp currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $14.17.

Brookline Bancorp Price Performance

BRKL opened at $11.94 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.06 billion, a PE ratio of 14.39 and a beta of 0.78. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $11.91 and a 200-day moving average price of $10.34. Brookline Bancorp has a 1 year low of $8.01 and a 1 year high of $13.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 1.13.

Brookline Bancorp (NASDAQ:BRKL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The bank reported $0.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.20 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $165.91 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $88.67 million. Brookline Bancorp had a net margin of 11.40% and a return on equity of 6.20%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.26 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Brookline Bancorp will post 0.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Brookline Bancorp

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Brookline Bancorp by 174.9% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,154 shares of the bank’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 3,279 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in Brookline Bancorp during the second quarter valued at about $102,000. Creative Planning purchased a new stake in Brookline Bancorp in the third quarter worth about $103,000. Townsquare Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Brookline Bancorp in the third quarter worth about $111,000. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd bought a new position in shares of Brookline Bancorp in the second quarter worth about $115,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.91% of the company’s stock.

Brookline Bancorp Company Profile

Brookline Bancorp, Inc operates as a bank holding company for the Brookline Bank that provide commercial, business, and retail banking services to corporate, municipal, and retail customers in the United States. Its deposit products include demand checking, NOW, money market, and savings accounts. The company’s loan portfolio primarily comprises first mortgage loans secured by commercial, multi-family, and residential real estate properties; loans to business entities comprising commercial lines of credit; loans to condominium associations; loans and leases used to finance equipment for small businesses; financing for construction and development projects; and home equity and other consumer loans.