Hanmi Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HAFC) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

Hanmi Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HAFC) saw a large drop in short interest during the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 596,800 shares, a drop of 16.1% from the August 15th total of 711,600 shares. Approximately 2.0% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 215,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.8 days.

Institutional Trading of Hanmi Financial

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its holdings in Hanmi Financial by 8.5% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 11,568 shares of the bank’s stock worth $193,000 after purchasing an additional 911 shares during the period. EMC Capital Management grew its position in shares of Hanmi Financial by 8.9% during the 1st quarter. EMC Capital Management now owns 11,768 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $187,000 after buying an additional 958 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. raised its stake in Hanmi Financial by 47.0% during the second quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 3,773 shares of the bank’s stock worth $63,000 after acquiring an additional 1,207 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Hanmi Financial by 13.4% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 11,833 shares of the bank’s stock worth $230,000 after acquiring an additional 1,399 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in shares of Hanmi Financial by 10.9% during the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 17,559 shares of the bank’s stock worth $280,000 after acquiring an additional 1,730 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.66% of the company’s stock.

Hanmi Financial Trading Up 0.2 %

NASDAQ:HAFC traded up $0.03 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $18.96. 55,192 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 236,903. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The firm has a market cap of $576.14 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.86 and a beta of 0.88. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $18.92 and a 200 day simple moving average of $16.74. Hanmi Financial has a 52-week low of $13.87 and a 52-week high of $20.92.

Hanmi Financial (NASDAQ:HAFC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The bank reported $0.48 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.48. The company had revenue of $106.72 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $59.07 million. Hanmi Financial had a return on equity of 9.66% and a net margin of 15.84%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.67 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Hanmi Financial will post 1.98 EPS for the current year.

Hanmi Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 5th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 5th. Hanmi Financial’s payout ratio is 41.67%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on HAFC shares. DA Davidson upped their price objective on shares of Hanmi Financial from $18.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Wedbush lifted their price objective on Hanmi Financial from $17.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th.

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.