Heritage Commerce Corp (NASDAQ:HTBK) Short Interest Up 73.1% in February

Heritage Commerce Corp (NASDAQ:HTBK) saw a large increase in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 955,000 shares, an increase of 73.1% from the February 13th total of 551,700 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 383,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.5 days. Currently, 1.6% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Insider Transactions at Heritage Commerce

In related news, CEO Robertson Clay Jones, Jr. sold 5,145 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.73, for a total value of $50,060.85. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 254,227 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,473,628.71. This represents a 1.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Jack W. Conner sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 108,512 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,141,546.24. This represents a 3.56 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 10,747 shares of company stock worth $107,728 in the last three months. 3.99% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quarry LP increased its stake in Heritage Commerce by 562.4% during the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 3,153 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 2,677 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE raised its stake in Heritage Commerce by 64.8% during the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 3,473 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 1,365 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Heritage Commerce by 103.7% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,832 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $77,000 after acquiring an additional 3,987 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Heritage Commerce during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $97,000. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Heritage Commerce during the 4th quarter worth approximately $99,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.55% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HTBK has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Stephens upgraded Heritage Commerce from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. StockNews.com raised shares of Heritage Commerce from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on shares of Heritage Commerce from $12.50 to $11.50 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th.

Heritage Commerce Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of HTBK traded up $0.15 during trading on Friday, reaching $9.64. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 505,300 shares, compared to its average volume of 361,185. The company has a market cap of $590.96 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.61 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The company has a fifty day moving average of $9.84 and a two-hundred day moving average of $9.96. Heritage Commerce has a twelve month low of $7.66 and a twelve month high of $11.27.

Heritage Commerce (NASDAQ:HTBK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.17 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.17. Heritage Commerce had a net margin of 16.12% and a return on equity of 5.96%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Heritage Commerce will post 0.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Heritage Commerce Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 6th were paid a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 6th. Heritage Commerce’s payout ratio is currently 78.79%.

About Heritage Commerce

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.