American Century Companies Inc. Acquires 85,425 Shares of Hanmi Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HAFC)

American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Hanmi Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HAFC) by 13.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 743,466 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 85,425 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. owned 2.46% of Hanmi Financial worth $17,561,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Hanmi Financial by 227.1% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,076 shares of the bank’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 747 shares during the period. Point72 DIFC Ltd acquired a new stake in Hanmi Financial during the third quarter worth about $28,000. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in Hanmi Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in shares of Hanmi Financial by 110.7% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,970 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 1,035 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP grew its position in Hanmi Financial by 5,858.5% in the fourth quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 2,443 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $58,000 after acquiring an additional 2,402 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.66% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on HAFC. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $27.50 price target on shares of Hanmi Financial in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $29.00 price target (up from $24.00) on shares of Hanmi Financial in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $25.75.

Hanmi Financial Stock Performance

NASDAQ HAFC opened at $22.66 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $23.32 and its 200-day moving average is $22.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. Hanmi Financial Co. has a 12-month low of $14.45 and a 12-month high of $27.59. The firm has a market cap of $684.24 million, a P/E ratio of 11.05 and a beta of 0.87.

Hanmi Financial (NASDAQ:HAFC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The bank reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.05. Hanmi Financial had a return on equity of 8.64% and a net margin of 14.45%. Sell-side analysts predict that Hanmi Financial Co. will post 2.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Hanmi Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This is an increase from Hanmi Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.77%. Hanmi Financial’s payout ratio is currently 52.68%.

About Hanmi Financial

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.