Heritage Commerce (NASDAQ:HTBK) Downgraded by StockNews.com to “Sell”

Heritage Commerce (NASDAQ:HTBK) was downgraded by StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday.

HTBK has been the subject of a number of other reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on shares of Heritage Commerce from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 26th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Heritage Commerce from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Raymond James boosted their price objective on shares of Heritage Commerce from $9.50 to $11.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Heritage Commerce presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $10.75.

Heritage Commerce Price Performance

HTBK stock opened at $8.12 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.77. Heritage Commerce has a one year low of $6.69 and a one year high of $10.22. The stock has a market cap of $497.35 million, a PE ratio of 7.66 and a beta of 0.90. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $8.26 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $8.72.

Heritage Commerce (NASDAQ:HTBK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $46.38 million. On average, analysts predict that Heritage Commerce will post 0.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Heritage Commerce

In related news, Director Jack W. Conner sold 6,944 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.92, for a total transaction of $61,940.48. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 102,501 shares in the company, valued at approximately $914,308.92. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 4.15% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Heritage Commerce

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Heritage Commerce by 24.4% in the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 831,342 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,352,000 after purchasing an additional 162,840 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates raised its holdings in Heritage Commerce by 10.5% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 11,827 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $133,000 after purchasing an additional 1,121 shares in the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Heritage Commerce by 124.6% in the 1st quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 31,366 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $353,000 after purchasing an additional 17,402 shares in the last quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can raised its holdings in Heritage Commerce by 35.7% in the 1st quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 6,253 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $73,000 after purchasing an additional 1,646 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Heritage Commerce by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,706,613 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,450,000 after purchasing an additional 47,252 shares in the last quarter. 75.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.