Hanmi Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HAFC) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Hanmi Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HAFC - Get Free Report) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 452,900 shares, a growth of 27.0% from the February 28th total of 356,700 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 202,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.2 days. Approximately 1.5% of the company's stock are short sold.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, DA Davidson restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $27.50 price target on shares of Hanmi Financial in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $25.75.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of HAFC. Point72 Asset Management L.P. boosted its stake in Hanmi Financial by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 8,527 shares of the bank's stock valued at $201,000 after purchasing an additional 527 shares in the last quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC raised its position in Hanmi Financial by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 56,990 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,346,000 after acquiring an additional 535 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Hanmi Financial by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 17,112 shares of the bank's stock valued at $404,000 after purchasing an additional 547 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its stake in Hanmi Financial by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 176,354 shares of the bank's stock valued at $4,165,000 after purchasing an additional 677 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its position in Hanmi Financial by 227.1% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,076 shares of the bank's stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 747 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.66% of the company's stock.

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Hanmi Financial Stock Performance

Shares of Hanmi Financial stock traded down $0.88 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $20.11. The company's stock had a trading volume of 46,947 shares, compared to its average volume of 200,768. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.00. Hanmi Financial has a one year low of $14.45 and a one year high of $27.59. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $23.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $22.97. The stock has a market cap of $607.18 million, a P/E ratio of 9.80 and a beta of 0.87.

Hanmi Financial (NASDAQ:HAFC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The bank reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.05. Hanmi Financial had a return on equity of 8.64% and a net margin of 14.45%. As a group, analysts expect that Hanmi Financial will post 2.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hanmi Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.37%. This is a positive change from Hanmi Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Hanmi Financial's dividend payout ratio is currently 52.68%.

Hanmi Financial Company Profile

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.