Short Interest in Heritage Commerce Corp (NASDAQ:HTBK) Rises By 30.2%

Heritage Commerce Corp (NASDAQ:HTBK) saw a large increase in short interest in February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 551,700 shares, an increase of 30.2% from the January 31st total of 423,800 shares. Approximately 0.9% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 369,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.5 days.

Heritage Commerce Stock Down 3.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:HTBK traded down $0.33 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $10.12. 475,558 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 411,258. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $9.78 and a two-hundred day moving average of $9.96. Heritage Commerce has a 1-year low of $7.66 and a 1-year high of $11.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The firm has a market cap of $620.39 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.33 and a beta of 0.96.

Heritage Commerce (NASDAQ:HTBK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.17 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.17. Heritage Commerce had a net margin of 16.12% and a return on equity of 5.96%. Research analysts anticipate that Heritage Commerce will post 0.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Heritage Commerce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 6th were given a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 6th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.14%. Heritage Commerce’s payout ratio is 78.79%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on HTBK. Stephens upgraded shares of Heritage Commerce from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on shares of Heritage Commerce from $12.50 to $11.50 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Heritage Commerce from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th.

Insider Activity at Heritage Commerce

In other Heritage Commerce news, Director Jack W. Conner sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.52, for a total value of $42,080.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 108,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,141,546.24. The trade was a 3.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 3.99% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Heritage Commerce

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new position in shares of Heritage Commerce in the third quarter valued at approximately $20,093,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Heritage Commerce during the 4th quarter valued at $2,181,000. Millennium Management LLC bought a new position in Heritage Commerce during the 4th quarter valued at $1,881,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in shares of Heritage Commerce by 58.4% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 463,774 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,350,000 after acquiring an additional 170,989 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ExodusPoint Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Heritage Commerce in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,272,000. 75.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Heritage Commerce Company Profile

Heritage Commerce Corp operates as the bank holding company for Heritage Bank of Commerce that provides various commercial and personal banking services to residents and the business/professional community in California. Its deposit products for business banking and retail markets include interest and non-interest-bearing demand, savings, and money market accounts, as well as certificates of deposit and time deposits.