HomeStreet, Inc. (NASDAQ:HMST) Short Interest Update

HomeStreet, Inc. (NASDAQ:HMST) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in 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 short-interest ratio is presently 2.7 days. Currently, 3.2% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Joanne R. Harrell purchased 1,685 shares of HomeStreet stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $14.87 per share, for a total transaction of $25,055.95. Following the transaction, the director now owns 14,907 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $221,667.09. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 4.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On HomeStreet

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Acuitas Investments LLC boosted its holdings in HomeStreet by 86.0% in the fourth quarter. Acuitas Investments LLC now owns 342,643 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,529,000 after acquiring an additional 158,455 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in HomeStreet by 1,460.5% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 184,013 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,433,000 after acquiring an additional 172,221 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its holdings in HomeStreet by 47.6% in the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 435,099 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,389,000 after acquiring an additional 140,357 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its holdings in HomeStreet by 167.2% in the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 3,284 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 2,055 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in HomeStreet in the fourth quarter worth approximately $129,000. Institutional investors own 74.71% of the company’s stock.

HomeStreet Stock Up 1.9 %

Shares of HomeStreet stock opened at $12.28 on Tuesday. HomeStreet has a one year low of $4.20 and a one year high of $15.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.66, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $14.01 and its 200 day moving average is $10.88. The firm has a market cap of $231.60 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.41 and a beta of 1.32.

HomeStreet (NASDAQ:HMST) last announced its earnings results on Monday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported ($0.12) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.03 by ($0.15). HomeStreet had a negative net margin of 6.23% and a positive return on equity of 1.55%. The business had revenue of $45.95 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $49.73 million. Equities research analysts anticipate that HomeStreet will post 0.19 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on HMST. Wedbush upped their price target on HomeStreet from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on HomeStreet from $11.00 to $15.50 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on HomeStreet in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. They issued a “sell” rating on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and three have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $12.17.

About HomeStreet

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.