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

Heritage Commerce Corp (NASDAQ:HTBK) saw a significant increase in short interest during the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 597,400 shares, an increase of 9.5% from the August 15th total of 545,400 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 276,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.2 days. Currently, 1.0% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Heritage Commerce Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ HTBK traded down $0.01 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $8.49. The company had a trading volume of 151,796 shares, compared to its average volume of 318,892. Heritage Commerce has a 52 week low of $6.69 and a 52 week high of $14.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.83. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $9.03 and its 200-day moving average price is $8.57. The stock has a market cap of $518.65 million, a PE ratio of 6.98 and a beta of 1.01.

Heritage Commerce (NASDAQ:HTBK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.29 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $48.37 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $51.03 million. Heritage Commerce had a return on equity of 11.67% and a net margin of 32.20%. Analysts expect that Heritage Commerce will post 1.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Heritage Commerce Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 10th were paid a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 9th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.12%. Heritage Commerce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.62%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on HTBK. Raymond James raised their price objective on Heritage Commerce from $10.00 to $10.50 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 31st. TheStreet raised Heritage Commerce from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 26th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Heritage Commerce from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 25th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Heritage Commerce from $10.00 to $11.00 in a report on Friday, July 28th. Finally, Stephens cut shares of Heritage Commerce from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $10.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Friday, August 11th. They noted that the move was a valuation call.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Heritage Commerce by 24.4% during the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 831,342 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,352,000 after purchasing an additional 162,840 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates grew its stake in Heritage Commerce by 10.5% in the first quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 11,827 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $133,000 after acquiring an additional 1,121 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Heritage Commerce by 124.6% in the first quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 31,366 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $353,000 after acquiring an additional 17,402 shares in the last quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can raised its position in shares of Heritage Commerce by 35.7% during the first quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 6,253 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $73,000 after purchasing an additional 1,646 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Heritage Commerce by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,706,613 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,450,000 after purchasing an additional 47,252 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 72.80% of the company’s stock.

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.