Hanmi Financial (NASDAQ:HAFC) Sets New 52-Week High – Still a Buy?

Hanmi Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:HAFC)’s share price reached a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $29.46 and last traded at $29.6240, with a volume of 77499 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $28.09.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Hanmi Financial from $29.00 to $30.50 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Hanmi Financial in a report on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research lowered Hanmi Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 26th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Hanmi Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $28.50.

Hanmi Financial Trading Up 5.2%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $27.86 and its 200 day moving average price is $25.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $885.02 million, a P/E ratio of 12.36 and a beta of 0.72.

Hanmi Financial (NASDAQ:HAFC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 21st. The bank reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.66 by $0.07. Hanmi Financial had a return on equity of 9.59% and a net margin of 16.53%.The company had revenue of $70.96 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $67.80 million. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Hanmi Financial Corporation will post 2.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hanmi Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 4th were issued a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 4th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.7%. Hanmi Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 45.19%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hanmi Financial

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in HAFC. Unison Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Hanmi Financial by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Unison Advisors LLC now owns 32,259 shares of the bank’s stock worth $872,000 after acquiring an additional 356 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Hanmi Financial by 17.3% during the 3rd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,672 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $66,000 after purchasing an additional 394 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Hanmi Financial by 15.1% in the 2nd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,038 shares of the bank’s stock worth $100,000 after purchasing an additional 531 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Hanmi Financial by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 36,771 shares of the bank’s stock worth $908,000 after purchasing an additional 632 shares during the period. Finally, SummerHaven Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Hanmi Financial by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 47,852 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,181,000 after purchasing an additional 641 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 88.66% of the company’s stock.

Hanmi Financial Company Profile

Hanmi Financial Corporation is a bank holding company based in California, primarily operating through its wholly owned subsidiary, Hanmi Bank. Established in 1982 to serve the Korean?American community in Los Angeles, the company has expanded its footprint to include branch locations throughout California as well as markets in Illinois, Texas and Washington State. Hanmi Bank offers a comprehensive suite of commercial and consumer banking products designed to meet the needs of small and medium?sized businesses, professionals and individual clients.

On the commercial banking side, Hanmi Bank provides business checking and savings accounts, lines of credit, commercial real estate lending and SBA?guaranteed loans.