HomeStreet, Inc. (NASDAQ:HMST) Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

HomeStreet, Inc. (NASDAQ:HMST) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest in August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,790,000 shares, a drop of 26.3% from the August 15th total of 2,430,000 shares. Currently, 10.1% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 519,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.4 days.

HomeStreet Trading Down 3.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ HMST traded down $0.30 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $8.90. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 255,080 shares, compared to its average volume of 415,581. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $9.33 and its 200-day simple moving average is $10.83. HomeStreet has a one year low of $4.76 and a one year high of $35.15. The stock has a market cap of $167.23 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 68.46 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.16, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.12.

HomeStreet (NASDAQ:HMST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 28th. The financial services provider reported $0.17 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.20 by ($0.03). HomeStreet had a return on equity of 6.69% and a net margin of 0.59%. The firm had revenue of $53.79 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $57.07 million. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that HomeStreet will post 0.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

HomeStreet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 23rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 9th were paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.49%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 8th. HomeStreet’s payout ratio is 307.69%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of HomeStreet from $7.00 to $10.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 3rd. TheStreet lowered shares of HomeStreet from a “c” rating to a “d+” rating in a research note on Friday, July 28th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of HomeStreet to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, August 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and three have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $17.00.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp lifted its stake in HomeStreet by 28.3% in the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,092,200 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $51,748,000 after buying an additional 240,973 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in HomeStreet by 9.1% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 632,497 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $17,444,000 after buying an additional 52,767 shares in the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in HomeStreet by 26.4% in the second quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 628,950 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,723,000 after buying an additional 131,450 shares in the last quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in HomeStreet by 23.2% in the first quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC now owns 461,665 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,305,000 after buying an additional 86,905 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in HomeStreet by 3.9% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 395,651 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,342,000 after buying an additional 14,917 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.45% of the company’s stock.

About HomeStreet

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