Principal Financial Group Inc. Acquires 6,643 Shares of Hanmi Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HAFC)

Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Hanmi Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HAFC) by 4.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 170,942 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,643 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.57% of Hanmi Financial worth $4,038,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in HAFC. Point72 DIFC Ltd bought a new position in Hanmi Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in Hanmi Financial in the 4th quarter valued at about $43,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in Hanmi Financial by 110.7% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,970 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 1,035 shares during the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in Hanmi Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at about $49,000. Finally, EMC Capital Management increased its stake in Hanmi Financial by 162.4% in the 4th quarter. EMC Capital Management now owns 11,768 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $278,000 after buying an additional 7,284 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.66% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on HAFC. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $27.50 price objective on shares of Hanmi Financial in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Janney Montgomery Scott upgraded shares of Hanmi Financial from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $29.00 price objective (up previously from $24.00) on shares of Hanmi Financial in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Hanmi Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $25.75.

Hanmi Financial Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of HAFC stock opened at $23.85 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $23.54 and a 200-day moving average of $22.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. Hanmi Financial Co. has a 12-month low of $14.45 and a 12-month high of $27.59. The firm has a market cap of $720.17 million, a P/E ratio of 11.63 and a beta of 0.88.

Hanmi Financial (NASDAQ:HAFC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The bank reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.05. Hanmi Financial had a net margin of 14.45% and a return on equity of 8.64%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Hanmi Financial Co. will post 2.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Hanmi Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.53%. This is a positive change from Hanmi Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Hanmi Financial’s payout ratio is currently 52.68%.

About Hanmi Financial

Hanmi Financial Corporation operates as the holding company for Hanmi Bank that provides business banking products and services in the United States. It offers various deposit products, including noninterest-bearing checking accounts, savings accounts, negotiable order of withdrawal accounts, money market accounts, and certificates of deposit.