Hanmi Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HAFC) Short Interest Update

Hanmi Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HAFC) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest during the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 665,100 shares, an increase of 8.7% from the November 30th total of 612,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 204,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.3 days. Currently, 2.2% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on HAFC. DA Davidson boosted their price target on shares of Hanmi Financial from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $29.00 price target (up previously from $24.00) on shares of Hanmi Financial in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Janney Montgomery Scott upgraded Hanmi Financial from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Wedbush restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $21.00 target price on shares of Hanmi Financial in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Piper Sandler upgraded Hanmi Financial from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $20.00 to $25.50 in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $24.38.

Hanmi Financial Price Performance

Shares of HAFC stock traded up $0.14 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $23.62. 172,992 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 156,405. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.00. The firm has a market cap of $713.32 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.36 and a beta of 0.87. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $24.77 and its 200-day simple moving average is $20.73. Hanmi Financial has a twelve month low of $14.45 and a twelve month high of $27.59.

Hanmi Financial (NASDAQ:HAFC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The bank reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.49. Hanmi Financial had a net margin of 14.80% and a return on equity of 8.87%. The company had revenue of $108.86 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $59.23 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.62 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Hanmi Financial will post 2 earnings per share for the current year.

Hanmi Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 4th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 4th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.23%. Hanmi Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.08%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hanmi Financial

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Hanmi Financial by 71.8% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 836,145 shares of the bank’s stock worth $15,552,000 after purchasing an additional 349,339 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Hanmi Financial by 10.3% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 164,299 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,056,000 after acquiring an additional 15,385 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Hanmi Financial by 15.0% during the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 38,845 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $723,000 after acquiring an additional 5,077 shares during the period. Barclays PLC lifted its position in shares of Hanmi Financial by 74.0% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 67,158 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,248,000 after acquiring an additional 28,561 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd boosted its stake in Hanmi Financial by 29.4% in the 3rd quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 41,953 shares of the bank’s stock worth $780,000 after purchasing an additional 9,542 shares during the period. 88.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.