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

Heritage Commerce Corp (NASDAQ:HTBK) saw a significant increase in short interest in 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. Approximately 1.6% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 383,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.5 days.

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 shares were sold at an average price of $10.52, for a total value of $42,080.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 108,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,141,546.24. The trade was a 3.56 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction of $50,060.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 254,227 shares in the company, valued at $2,473,628.71. The trade was a 1.98 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 10,747 shares of company stock valued at $107,728. Corporate insiders own 3.99% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Heritage Commerce

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HTBK. Quarry LP boosted its holdings in shares of Heritage Commerce by 562.4% during the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 3,153 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 2,677 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE lifted its holdings in Heritage Commerce by 64.8% in the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 3,473 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 1,365 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Heritage Commerce by 103.7% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,832 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $77,000 after buying an additional 3,987 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Heritage Commerce during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $97,000. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in shares of Heritage Commerce during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $99,000. Institutional investors own 75.55% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Heritage Commerce Stock Up 1.6 %

HTBK opened at $9.64 on Friday. Heritage Commerce has a 12 month low of $7.66 and a 12 month high of $11.27. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $9.84 and its 200-day moving average price is $9.96. The company has a market cap of $590.96 million, a P/E ratio of 14.61 and a beta of 0.92.

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

Heritage Commerce Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 6th were issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 6th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.39%. Heritage Commerce’s dividend 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.