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

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

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Joanne R. Harrell purchased 1,685 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The shares were purchased 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 4.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of HomeStreet

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its position in HomeStreet by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 34,288 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $353,000 after buying an additional 810 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in HomeStreet by 167.2% in the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 3,284 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 2,055 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its position in HomeStreet by 132.8% in the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 4,388 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 2,503 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC grew its position in HomeStreet by 2,222.2% in the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,553 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 3,400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AJOVista LLC bought a new position in HomeStreet in the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.71% of the company’s stock.

HomeStreet Stock Down 10.4 %

HMST stock opened at $10.97 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.66. HomeStreet has a fifty-two week low of $4.20 and a fifty-two week high of $15.82. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $13.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $10.96. The stock has a market cap of $206.89 million, a PE ratio of -7.51 and a beta of 1.32.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on HMST shares. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of HomeStreet in a report on Wednesday. They issued a “sell” rating on the stock. Wedbush increased their target price on shares of HomeStreet from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of HomeStreet from $11.00 to $15.50 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and three have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $12.17.

HomeStreet Company Profile

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.