ECB Bancorp (NASDAQ:ECBK) Stock Price Down 1.5% – Should You Sell?

ECB Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:ECBK) was down 1.5% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $20.00 and last traded at $20.01. 17,960 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 64% from the average session volume of 10,932 shares. The stock had previously closed at $20.31.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ECBK. Weiss Ratings raised ECB Bancorp from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Wall Street Zen upgraded ECB Bancorp to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, ECB Bancorp currently has an average rating of “Buy”.

ECB Bancorp Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.27. The firm has a market cap of $175.09 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.40 and a beta of 0.49. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $18.50 and its 200-day moving average price is $17.71.

ECB Bancorp (NASDAQ:ECBK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 8th. The company reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter. ECB Bancorp had a net margin of 11.49% and a return on equity of 5.60%. The firm had revenue of $10.16 million during the quarter.

Institutional Trading of ECB Bancorp

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Rhumbline Advisers increased its position in ECB Bancorp by 14.8% in the 3rd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 11,551 shares of the company’s stock worth $183,000 after purchasing an additional 1,485 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of ECB Bancorp during the 1st quarter valued at about $200,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of ECB Bancorp by 114.6% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 172,835 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,669,000 after buying an additional 92,310 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of ECB Bancorp by 22.9% during the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 43,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $748,000 after buying an additional 8,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Covalent Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of ECB Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $574,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 30.27% of the company’s stock.

ECB Bancorp Company Profile

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. It also offers one- to four-family residential real estate, commercial real estate and multifamily real estate, construction and land, commercial, and consumer loans, as well as home equity loans and lines of credit.