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

Heritage Commerce (NASDAQ:HTBK) was downgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report released on Friday.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on HTBK. Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of Heritage Commerce from $9.50 to $11.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 5th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Heritage Commerce from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on shares of Heritage Commerce from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $10.75.

Heritage Commerce Stock Up 2.8 %

Shares of HTBK stock traded up $0.22 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $8.12. 376,484 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 393,354. The business has a 50 day moving average of $8.26 and a two-hundred day moving average of $8.72. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. Heritage Commerce has a 52 week low of $6.69 and a 52 week high of $10.22. The company has a market capitalization of $497.38 million, a PE ratio of 7.66 and a beta of 0.90.

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

Insider Activity at Heritage Commerce

In other news, Director Jack W. Conner sold 6,944 shares of Heritage Commerce stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.92, for a total value of $61,940.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 102,501 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $914,308.92. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 4.15% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of HTBK. BlackRock Inc. grew its position in shares of Heritage Commerce by 32.5% in the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 7,529,426 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $62,344,000 after acquiring an additional 1,847,750 shares during the period. Boston Partners grew its position in shares of Heritage Commerce by 101.4% in the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,893,847 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $18,718,000 after acquiring an additional 953,372 shares during the period. Kennedy Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Heritage Commerce by 83.3% in the 2nd quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 1,136,231 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,408,000 after acquiring an additional 516,348 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new position in shares of Heritage Commerce in the 1st quarter valued at about $2,832,000. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP grew its position in shares of Heritage Commerce by 132.7% in the 1st quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 427,202 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,559,000 after acquiring an additional 243,600 shares during the period. 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.