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

Heritage Commerce Corp (NASDAQ:HTBK) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during 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 company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 383,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.5 days.

Insider Buying and Selling at Heritage Commerce

In related news, Director Jack W. Conner sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 trade represents a 3.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Robertson Clay Jones, Jr. sold 5,145 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were 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 owns 254,227 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,473,628.71. The trade was a 1.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 10,747 shares of company stock worth $107,728 over the last ninety days. 3.99% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Heritage Commerce

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. GSA Capital Partners LLP grew its position in Heritage Commerce by 49.4% in the 3rd quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 127,528 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,260,000 after purchasing an additional 42,167 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in shares of Heritage Commerce by 5.3% in the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 150,733 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,489,000 after acquiring an additional 7,638 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Heritage Commerce during the third quarter valued at approximately $116,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Heritage Commerce by 1.4% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 496,190 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,902,000 after acquiring an additional 6,884 shares during the period. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC boosted its position in Heritage Commerce by 17.0% in the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 146,349 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,446,000 after purchasing an additional 21,288 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.55% of the company’s stock.

Heritage Commerce Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of Heritage Commerce stock opened at $9.64 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $590.96 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.61 and a beta of 0.92. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $9.84 and its 200 day moving average is $9.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.73. Heritage Commerce has a one year low of $7.66 and a one year high of $11.27.

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

Heritage Commerce Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 6th were paid 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 78.79%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

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.