Short Interest in Hanmi Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:HAFC) Rises By 119.2%

Hanmi Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:HAFC) was the target of a large growth in short interest in the month of February. As of February 27th, there was short interest totaling 941,270 shares, a growth of 119.2% from the February 12th total of 429,406 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 302,991 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.1 days. Approximately 3.2% of the company’s stock are short sold. Approximately 3.2% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 302,991 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.1 days.

Institutional Trading of Hanmi Financial

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of HAFC. AlphaQuest LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Hanmi Financial by 201.7% in the 3rd quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 1,792 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 1,198 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada grew its position in shares of Hanmi Financial by 30.5% in the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 1,880 shares of the bank’s stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 439 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Hanmi Financial by 343.2% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,278 shares of the bank’s stock worth $56,000 after acquiring an additional 1,764 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its position in Hanmi Financial by 148.4% during the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,414 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $60,000 after acquiring an additional 1,442 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SummitTX Capital L.P. purchased a new stake in Hanmi Financial during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $203,000. 88.66% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on HAFC. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Hanmi Financial in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Hanmi Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, December 26th. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $29.50 target price on shares of Hanmi Financial in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Hanmi Financial from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Hanmi Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, January 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.33.

Hanmi Financial Stock Down 1.4%

Shares of NASDAQ HAFC opened at $25.19 on Thursday. Hanmi Financial has a 12-month low of $19.25 and a 12-month high of $30.20. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $27.27 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $26.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $752.93 million, a PE ratio of 10.04 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35.

Hanmi Financial (NASDAQ:HAFC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 27th. The bank reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.71 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $71.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $71.40 million. Hanmi Financial had a return on equity of 9.85% and a net margin of 17.10%. As a group, analysts expect that Hanmi Financial will post 2.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hanmi Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 9th were paid a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.4%. This is a boost from Hanmi Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 9th. Hanmi Financial’s payout ratio is presently 44.62%.

Hanmi Financial Company Profile

Hanmi Financial Corporation is a bank holding company based in California, primarily operating through its wholly owned subsidiary, Hanmi Bank. Established in 1982 to serve the Korean‐American community in Los Angeles, the company has expanded its footprint to include branch locations throughout California as well as markets in Illinois, Texas and Washington State. Hanmi Bank offers a comprehensive suite of commercial and consumer banking products designed to meet the needs of small and medium‐sized businesses, professionals and individual clients.

On the commercial banking side, Hanmi Bank provides business checking and savings accounts, lines of credit, commercial real estate lending and SBA‐guaranteed loans.