Heritage Commerce (NASDAQ:HTBK) Lowered to Sell at StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Heritage Commerce (NASDAQ:HTBK) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report released on Monday morning.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on HTBK. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on Heritage Commerce from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Heritage Commerce from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Raymond James boosted their price objective on Heritage Commerce from $9.50 to $11.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Friday, January 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $10.75.

Heritage Commerce Trading Down 2.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:HTBK opened at $8.41 on Monday. Heritage Commerce has a 52-week low of $6.69 and a 52-week high of $10.22. The stock has a market cap of $514.44 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.93 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $8.48 and a 200-day moving average price of $8.75.

Heritage Commerce (NASDAQ:HTBK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.24 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $44.24 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $46.38 million. Heritage Commerce had a net margin of 26.49% and a return on equity of 9.78%. Equities analysts predict that Heritage Commerce will post 0.81 EPS for the current year.

Heritage Commerce Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 22nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 8th were paid a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 7th. Heritage Commerce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 49.06%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Heritage Commerce news, Director Jack W. Conner sold 6,944 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.92, for a total transaction of $61,940.48. Following the transaction, the director now owns 102,501 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $914,308.92. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 4.05% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Heritage Commerce

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Heritage Commerce by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,185,168 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,597,000 after buying an additional 66,664 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Heritage Commerce by 6.1% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 508,796 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,047,000 after buying an additional 29,291 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in shares of Heritage Commerce by 11.6% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 14,807 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $147,000 after buying an additional 1,539 shares during the period. GSA Capital Partners LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Heritage Commerce in the 4th quarter valued at $2,236,000. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio raised its holdings in shares of Heritage Commerce by 1,070.2% in the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 12,299 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $122,000 after buying an additional 11,248 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.55% of the company’s stock.

About Heritage Commerce

Heritage Commerce Corp operates as the bank holding company for Heritage Bank of Commerce that provides various commercial and personal banking services to residents and the business/professional community in California. Its deposit products for business banking and retail markets include interest and non-interest-bearing demand, savings, and money market accounts, as well as certificates of deposit and time deposits.