Heritage Commerce (NASDAQ:HTBK) Sets New 1-Year High – Should You Buy?

Heritage Commerce Corp (NASDAQ:HTBK)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $13.20 and last traded at $13.2540, with a volume of 183167 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $12.70.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on HTBK shares. Raymond James Financial lowered Heritage Commerce from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Wall Street Zen lowered Heritage Commerce from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 20th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Heritage Commerce in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Heritage Commerce from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott cut shares of Heritage Commerce from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $12.00 to $14.00 in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Heritage Commerce currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $12.25.

Heritage Commerce Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $11.77 and its 200-day moving average price is $10.66. The stock has a market cap of $813.25 million, a P/E ratio of 18.95 and a beta of 0.80.

Heritage Commerce (NASDAQ:HTBK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The financial services provider reported $0.24 earnings per share for the quarter. Heritage Commerce had a net margin of 16.31% and a return on equity of 7.18%. The business had revenue of $50.01 million during the quarter. Analysts forecast that Heritage Commerce Corp will post 0.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Heritage Commerce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 6th were paid a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 6th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.9%. Heritage Commerce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 74.29%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Heritage Commerce

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new position in shares of Heritage Commerce during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $5,010,000. Diversified Trust Co. boosted its holdings in Heritage Commerce by 14.1% in the fourth quarter. Diversified Trust Co. now owns 23,361 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $281,000 after acquiring an additional 2,892 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its position in Heritage Commerce by 14.2% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 28,694 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $358,000 after purchasing an additional 3,564 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in Heritage Commerce by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,883,705 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $18,705,000 after purchasing an additional 44,948 shares during the period. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its holdings in Heritage Commerce by 979.3% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 360,543 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,580,000 after purchasing an additional 327,138 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.55% of the company’s stock.

Heritage Commerce Company Profile

Heritage Commerce Corporation, headquartered in Farmington Hills, Michigan, is the bank holding company for Heritage Bank, N.A., a community-oriented financial institution. Traded on NASDAQ under the symbol HTBK, the company focuses on delivering tailored banking services to businesses, professionals and individuals throughout Southeastern Michigan.

Heritage Bank, N.A. offers a comprehensive portfolio of deposit and lending products designed to meet the needs of commercial and consumer clients.