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

Heritage Commerce Corp (NASDAQ:HTBK) was the target of a large increase in short interest during the month of February. As of February 27th, there was short interest totaling 1,653,535 shares, an increase of 38.0% from the February 12th total of 1,198,150 shares. Approximately 2.8% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 545,872 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.0 days. Based on an average trading volume of 545,872 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.0 days. Approximately 2.8% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Heritage Commerce Trading Down 0.3%

NASDAQ HTBK traded down $0.04 during trading on Friday, hitting $12.13. The company had a trading volume of 514,128 shares, compared to its average volume of 574,765. The company’s fifty day moving average is $12.83 and its 200-day moving average is $11.45. Heritage Commerce has a one year low of $8.09 and a one year high of $13.82. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The company has a market cap of $747.09 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.55 and a beta of 0.79.

Heritage Commerce (NASDAQ:HTBK) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.28 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $104.04 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $50.78 million. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Heritage Commerce will post 0.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Heritage Commerce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 25th will be given a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 25th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.3%. Heritage Commerce’s payout ratio is currently 66.67%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Heritage Commerce

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in Heritage Commerce during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $122,000. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV boosted its holdings in Heritage Commerce by 26.2% in the fourth quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 28,898 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $347,000 after acquiring an additional 5,997 shares in the last quarter. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury purchased a new stake in shares of Heritage Commerce in the fourth quarter worth $623,000. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 22,780 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zacks Investment Management bought a new position in shares of Heritage Commerce during the fourth quarter valued at $136,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.55% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on HTBK. Janney Montgomery Scott cut shares of Heritage Commerce from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $12.00 to $14.00 in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. Raymond James Financial lowered shares of Heritage Commerce from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Heritage Commerce from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, December 20th. Weiss Ratings raised Heritage Commerce from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Heritage Commerce from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $12.25.

Heritage Commerce Company Profile

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.