Heritage Commerce Corp (NASDAQ:HTBK) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Heritage Commerce Corp (NASDAQ:HTBK) saw a large increase in short interest during the month of March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 1,971,456 shares, an increase of 19.2% from the February 26th total of 1,653,535 shares. Currently, 3.3% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 590,080 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.3 days.

Heritage Commerce Price Performance

Shares of HTBK stock opened at $12.63 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $12.75 and a two-hundred day moving average of $11.64. The firm has a market cap of $777.88 million, a P/E ratio of 16.19 and a beta of 0.69. Heritage Commerce has a 1-year low of $8.09 and a 1-year high of $13.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.74.

Heritage Commerce (NASDAQ:HTBK) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23 by $0.05. Heritage Commerce had a net margin of 17.77% and a return on equity of 8.07%. The business had revenue of $104.04 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $50.78 million. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Heritage Commerce will post 0.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Heritage Commerce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 25th will be paid a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 25th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.1%. Heritage Commerce’s dividend payout ratio is presently 66.67%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on HTBK shares. Janney Montgomery Scott lowered Heritage Commerce from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $12.00 to $14.00 in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. Wall Street Zen downgraded Heritage Commerce from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, December 20th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Heritage Commerce from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday, March 9th. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Heritage Commerce in a report on Monday, January 5th. Finally, DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $14.50 target price on shares of Heritage Commerce in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Heritage Commerce currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $12.25.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Heritage Commerce in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $122,000. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its stake in Heritage Commerce by 26.2% during the fourth quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 28,898 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $347,000 after purchasing an additional 5,997 shares during the last quarter. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury acquired a new position in Heritage Commerce in the fourth quarter worth $623,000. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in Heritage Commerce by 10.7% in the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 235,515 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,829,000 after purchasing an additional 22,780 shares during the period. Finally, Zacks Investment Management bought a new stake in Heritage Commerce during the fourth quarter valued at $136,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.55% of the company’s stock.

About Heritage Commerce

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.