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

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 254,227 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,473,628.71. This represents a 1.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Jack W. Conner sold 4,000 shares of Heritage Commerce stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.52, for a total transaction of $42,080.00. Following the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 10,747 shares of company stock worth $107,728. Insiders own 3.99% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Heritage Commerce

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quarry LP grew its position in Heritage Commerce by 562.4% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE grew its holdings in shares of Heritage Commerce by 64.8% during the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 3,473 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 1,365 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 3,987 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Heritage Commerce during the 4th quarter worth about $97,000. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in Heritage Commerce during the 4th quarter valued at about $99,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.55% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Heritage Commerce from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. 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. Finally, Stephens upgraded Heritage Commerce from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd.

Heritage Commerce Price Performance

Heritage Commerce stock traded up $0.15 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $9.64. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 505,300 shares, compared to its average volume of 361,185. Heritage Commerce has a twelve month low of $7.66 and a twelve month high of $11.27. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $9.84 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $9.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $590.96 million, a P/E 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.

Heritage Commerce (NASDAQ:HTBK) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.17 earnings per share (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%. Research analysts forecast that Heritage Commerce will post 0.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Heritage Commerce Dividend Announcement

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

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.