Heritage Commerce Corp (NASDAQ:HTBK) Short Interest Up 41.3% in December

Heritage Commerce Corp (NASDAQ:HTBK) was the target of a large growth in short interest in December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totaling 1,650,464 shares, a growth of 41.3% from the November 30th total of 1,167,798 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 432,831 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.8 days. Approximately 2.8% of the company’s stock are short sold. Approximately 2.8% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 432,831 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.8 days.

Heritage Commerce Stock Performance

NASDAQ HTBK traded down $0.11 on Wednesday, hitting $12.01. 423,792 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 472,024. The firm has a market cap of $735.97 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.16 and a beta of 0.81. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $11.18 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $10.38. Heritage Commerce has a fifty-two week low of $8.09 and a fifty-two week high of $12.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.75.

Heritage Commerce (NASDAQ:HTBK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The financial services provider reported $0.24 earnings per share for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $50.01 million for the quarter. Heritage Commerce had a return on equity of 7.18% and a net margin of 16.31%. On average, research analysts expect that Heritage Commerce will post 0.8 EPS for the current year.

Heritage Commerce Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 6th were given a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.3%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 6th. Heritage Commerce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 74.29%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Heritage Commerce

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Hsbc Holdings PLC purchased a new position in shares of Heritage Commerce during the 1st quarter worth approximately $371,000. Strs Ohio purchased a new position in Heritage Commerce during the first quarter worth $547,000. HoldCo Asset Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Heritage Commerce in the second quarter worth $16,121,000. Creative Planning increased its position in Heritage Commerce by 38.5% during the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 173,005 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,718,000 after purchasing an additional 48,130 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. acquired a new position in Heritage Commerce in the 1st quarter valued at about $504,000. 75.55% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HTBK has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Heritage Commerce from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 27th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $14.50 price objective (up previously from $12.50) on shares of Heritage Commerce in a report on Thursday, December 18th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Heritage Commerce in a research report on Monday. Stephens raised their price target on Heritage Commerce from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott lowered Heritage Commerce from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $12.00 to $14.00 in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $12.25.

Heritage Commerce Company Profile

Heritage Commerce Corporation, headquartered in Farmington Hills, Michigan, is the bank holding company for Heritage Bank, N.A., a community-oriented financial institution. Traded on NASDAQ under the symbol HTBK, the company focuses on delivering tailored banking services to businesses, professionals and individuals throughout Southeastern Michigan.

Heritage Bank, N.A. offers a comprehensive portfolio of deposit and lending products designed to meet the needs of commercial and consumer clients.