Heritage Commerce (NASDAQ:HTBK) Upgraded at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Heritage Commerce (NASDAQ:HTBK) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note published on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on HTBK. Janney Montgomery Scott cut Heritage Commerce from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $12.00 to $14.00 in a report on Monday, December 22nd. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $14.50 price target on shares of Heritage Commerce in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Heritage Commerce in a report on Monday, January 5th. Weiss Ratings raised Heritage Commerce from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Raymond James Financial lowered shares of Heritage Commerce from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Heritage Commerce currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $12.25.

Heritage Commerce Stock Performance

Shares of Heritage Commerce stock opened at $12.13 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $12.83 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $11.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $747.09 million, a P/E ratio of 15.55 and a beta of 0.79. Heritage Commerce has a fifty-two week low of $8.09 and a fifty-two week high of $13.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.75.

Heritage Commerce (NASDAQ:HTBK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.05. Heritage Commerce had a net margin of 17.77% and a return on equity of 8.07%. The company had revenue of $104.04 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $50.78 million. On average, equities analysts forecast that Heritage Commerce will post 0.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Heritage Commerce Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 25th will be issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 25th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.3%. Heritage Commerce’s payout ratio is presently 66.67%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Heritage Commerce

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. HoldCo Asset Management LP acquired a new stake in Heritage Commerce during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $16,121,000. Creative Planning raised its holdings in Heritage Commerce by 38.5% during the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 173,005 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,718,000 after purchasing an additional 48,130 shares during the last quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Heritage Commerce by 231.1% in the 3rd quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 64,976 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $645,000 after purchasing an additional 45,350 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Heritage Commerce by 5.9% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,565,168 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $15,544,000 after purchasing an additional 87,229 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC bought a new stake in shares of Heritage Commerce in the 2nd quarter valued at $389,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.