Heritage Insurance (NYSE:HRTG) Shares Break Above 50 Day Moving Average – Should You Sell?

Heritage Insurance Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:HRTG) shares passed above its 50-day moving average during trading on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $33.97 and traded as high as $36.35. Heritage Insurance shares last traded at $36.27, with a volume of 226,709 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on HRTG shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Heritage Insurance from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 8th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Heritage Insurance from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 9th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Heritage Insurance from $27.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Heritage Insurance from $36.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Heritage Insurance from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, August 15th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Heritage Insurance has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $36.50.

Heritage Insurance Trading Up 0.9%

The firm has a market capitalization of $1.09 billion, a PE ratio of 5.17 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $34.12 and its 200 day simple moving average is $28.75.

Heritage Insurance (NYSE:HRTG) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The insurance provider reported $2.05 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.80. Heritage Insurance had a net margin of 25.19% and a return on equity of 42.41%. The company had revenue of $214.19 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $212.71 million. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Heritage Insurance Holdings, Inc. will post 5.50 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Heritage Insurance news, insider Timothy E. Johns sold 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.68, for a total value of $117,880.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 25,438 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $856,751.84. This represents a 12.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Timothy Moura sold 15,104 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.49, for a total transaction of $490,728.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 144,941 shares in the company, valued at $4,709,133.09. This represents a 9.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 77,069 shares of company stock worth $2,578,235. Insiders own 9.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Heritage Insurance

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in HRTG. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Heritage Insurance during the 2nd quarter worth $2,872,000. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new stake in Heritage Insurance during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $6,070,000. Corient Private Wealth LP acquired a new position in shares of Heritage Insurance in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,091,000. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Heritage Insurance in the second quarter worth about $60,842,000. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new position in Heritage Insurance during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $917,000. 59.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Heritage Insurance

Heritage Insurance Holdings, Inc (NYSE: HRTG) is a property and casualty insurance holding company focused primarily on residential property insurance. Through its operating subsidiaries, the company provides coverage for homeowners, condominium owners, renters, and other residential property owners, including protection against risks such as wind, storm, fire, and other covered losses.

Heritage has historically concentrated on catastrophe-exposed markets, particularly Florida and other coastal areas of the southeastern United States.