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

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Robertson Clay Jones, Jr. sold 5,145 shares of Heritage Commerce stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 254,227 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,473,628.71. This trade represents a 1.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Jack W. Conner sold 4,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.52, for a total value of $42,080.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 108,512 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,141,546.24. The trade was a 3.56 % 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 valued at $107,728 in the last three months. Insiders own 3.99% of the company's stock.

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Institutional Investors Weigh In On Heritage Commerce

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in HTBK. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Heritage Commerce by 3.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,965,643 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $19,421,000 after purchasing an additional 61,630 shares during the period. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in shares of Heritage Commerce by 7.2% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 216,439 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,139,000 after purchasing an additional 14,466 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in shares of Heritage Commerce by 58.4% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 463,774 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $4,350,000 after purchasing an additional 170,989 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Heritage Commerce by 55.6% in the third quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 103,596 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,024,000 after purchasing an additional 36,997 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Heritage Commerce by 103.7% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,832 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $77,000 after purchasing an additional 3,987 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.55% of the company's stock.

Heritage Commerce Price Performance

Heritage Commerce stock remained flat at $9.64 during trading on Tuesday. The company had a trading volume of 248,381 shares, compared to its average volume of 360,245. Heritage Commerce has a fifty-two week low of $7.66 and a fifty-two week high of $11.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.73. The company's 50-day moving average price is $9.85 and its 200 day moving average price is $9.95. The firm has a market cap of $592.31 million, a PE ratio of 14.61 and a beta of 0.92.

Heritage Commerce (NASDAQ:HTBK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.17 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.17. Heritage Commerce had a return on equity of 5.96% and a net margin of 16.12%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Heritage Commerce will post 0.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Heritage Commerce Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on Heritage Commerce from $12.50 to $11.50 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 24th. Stephens raised Heritage Commerce from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com raised Heritage Commerce from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report 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.