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

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Heritage Commerce (NASDAQ:HTBK) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report published on Tuesday.

Heritage Commerce Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of Heritage Commerce stock opened at $10.66 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. Heritage Commerce has a 12-month low of $7.66 and a 12-month high of $11.27. The company has a market cap of $653.46 million, a P/E ratio of 15.01 and a beta of 0.93. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $10.05 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $9.44.

Heritage Commerce (NASDAQ:HTBK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.17. Heritage Commerce had a net margin of 17.61% and a return on equity of 6.37%. The company had revenue of $63.68 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $43.14 million. Research analysts anticipate that Heritage Commerce will post 0.66 EPS for the current year.

Heritage Commerce Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, November 7th were given a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 7th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.88%. Heritage Commerce’s dividend payout ratio is presently 73.24%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Heritage Commerce

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Heritage Commerce in the 3rd quarter worth about $20,093,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in Heritage Commerce by 830.2% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,024,377 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,912,000 after purchasing an additional 914,249 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of Heritage Commerce by 21.2% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 921,389 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,016,000 after purchasing an additional 160,977 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Heritage Commerce by 32.5% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 544,471 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,737,000 after purchasing an additional 133,514 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Heritage Commerce by 3.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,309,141 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,392,000 after purchasing an additional 123,973 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.55% of the company’s stock.

Heritage Commerce Company Profile

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.