Heritage Commerce Corp (NASDAQ:HTBK) Short Interest Down 31.1% in December

Heritage Commerce Corp (NASDAQ:HTBK) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totaling 1,136,417 shares, a decrease of 31.1% from the December 15th total of 1,650,464 shares. Approximately 1.9% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,765,048 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 0.6 days. Based on an average daily volume of 1,765,048 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 0.6 days. Approximately 1.9% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Heritage Commerce

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its holdings in shares of Heritage Commerce by 56.5% in the 3rd quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 5,026 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 1,815 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Heritage Commerce by 16,272.7% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,403 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 5,370 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its position in Heritage Commerce by 495.3% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 5,620 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 4,676 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its holdings in Heritage Commerce by 368.9% in the third quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 6,433 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $64,000 after purchasing an additional 5,061 shares during the last quarter. Finally, D.A. Davidson & CO. acquired a new stake in Heritage Commerce during the 3rd quarter worth about $101,000. 75.55% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HTBK has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Heritage Commerce from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 27th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Heritage Commerce from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Heritage Commerce from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 20th. Raymond James Financial downgraded shares of Heritage Commerce from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating on shares of Heritage Commerce in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Heritage Commerce presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $12.25.

Heritage Commerce Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:HTBK traded up $0.03 on Friday, hitting $12.85. 689,419 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 883,255. The firm has a market capitalization of $787.45 million, a P/E ratio of 18.36 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. Heritage Commerce has a 1-year low of $8.09 and a 1-year high of $12.94. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $11.68 and its 200 day moving average price is $10.63.

Heritage Commerce (NASDAQ:HTBK) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The financial services provider reported $0.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The company had revenue of $50.01 million during the quarter. Heritage Commerce had a return on equity of 7.18% and a net margin of 16.31%. Sell-side analysts predict that Heritage Commerce will post 0.8 EPS for the current year.

Heritage Commerce Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 6th were issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 6th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.0%. Heritage Commerce’s payout ratio is 74.29%.

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.