Short Interest in HomeStreet, Inc. (NASDAQ:HMST) Decreases By 6.2%

HomeStreet, Inc. (NASDAQ:HMST) saw a significant drop in short interest in the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 549,400 shares, a drop of 6.2% from the March 31st total of 586,000 shares. Currently, 3.2% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 204,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.7 days.

Insider Buying and Selling at HomeStreet

In other HomeStreet news, Director Joanne R. Harrell purchased 1,685 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $14.87 per share, with a total value of $25,055.95. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 14,907 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $221,667.09. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 4.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of HomeStreet

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its position in shares of HomeStreet by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 34,288 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $353,000 after buying an additional 810 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in shares of HomeStreet by 167.2% during the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 3,284 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 2,055 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its position in shares of HomeStreet by 132.8% during the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 4,388 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 2,503 shares during the period. CWM LLC grew its position in shares of HomeStreet by 2,222.2% during the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,553 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 3,400 shares during the period. Finally, AJOVista LLC acquired a new position in shares of HomeStreet during the 4th quarter worth about $38,000. 74.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on HMST. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on HomeStreet from $11.00 to $15.50 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. Wedbush lifted their price target on HomeStreet from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Finally, StockNews.com assumed coverage on HomeStreet in a report on Wednesday. They issued a “sell” rating for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and three have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $12.17.

HomeStreet Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:HMST opened at $10.97 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $206.89 million, a P/E ratio of -7.51 and a beta of 1.32. HomeStreet has a 1-year low of $4.20 and a 1-year high of $15.82. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.66. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $13.95 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $10.96.

HomeStreet (NASDAQ:HMST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported ($0.12) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.03 by ($0.15). The firm had revenue of $45.95 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $49.73 million. HomeStreet had a positive return on equity of 1.55% and a negative net margin of 6.23%. Equities analysts predict that HomeStreet will post 0.19 earnings per share for the current year.

About HomeStreet

HomeStreet, Inc operates as the bank holding company for HomeStreet Bank that provides commercial, mortgage, and consumer/retail banking services in the Western United States. The company offers personal and business checking, savings, interest-bearing negotiable order of withdrawal, and money market accounts, as well as certificates of deposit; credit cards; insurance; and treasury management services.