Short Interest in Hanmi Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HAFC) Grows By 13.1%

Hanmi Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HAFC) saw a large growth in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,120,000 shares, a growth of 13.1% from the February 29th total of 990,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 290,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.9 days. Approximately 3.8% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on HAFC shares. Wedbush decreased their target price on shares of Hanmi Financial from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on Hanmi Financial from $20.00 to $18.50 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 24th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hanmi Financial

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of HAFC. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Hanmi Financial by 112.9% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 848,953 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $15,765,000 after buying an additional 450,211 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its position in shares of Hanmi Financial by 250.1% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 400,743 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $9,918,000 after purchasing an additional 286,267 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its position in shares of Hanmi Financial by 2,264.9% during the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 238,448 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $4,671,000 after purchasing an additional 228,365 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. increased its position in shares of Hanmi Financial by 3.6% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 4,506,824 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $83,692,000 after purchasing an additional 155,777 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in shares of Hanmi Financial by 107.1% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 291,658 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $4,734,000 after purchasing an additional 150,861 shares during the last quarter. 88.66% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Hanmi Financial Stock Performance

NASDAQ:HAFC opened at $15.32 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $463.74 million, a P/E ratio of 5.85 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $15.53 and its 200-day moving average is $16.57. Hanmi Financial has a 1-year low of $13.35 and a 1-year high of $20.31.

Hanmi Financial (NASDAQ:HAFC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 23rd. The bank reported $0.61 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.01. Hanmi Financial had a return on equity of 11.88% and a net margin of 19.84%. The company had revenue of $59.82 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $63.43 million. Equities research analysts anticipate that Hanmi Financial will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Hanmi Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, February 5th were given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.53%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 2nd. Hanmi Financial’s payout ratio is currently 38.17%.

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.