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 research report released on Tuesday morning.

Heritage Commerce Stock Performance

NASDAQ:HTBK opened at $10.66 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $653.46 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.01 and a beta of 0.93. The business has a 50 day moving average of $10.05 and a 200 day moving average of $9.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.73. Heritage Commerce has a 1-year low of $7.66 and a 1-year high of $11.27.

Heritage Commerce (NASDAQ:HTBK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.17 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.17. Heritage Commerce had a net margin of 17.61% and a return on equity of 6.37%. The firm had revenue of $63.68 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $43.14 million. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Heritage Commerce will post 0.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Heritage Commerce Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 21st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 7th were issued a $0.13 dividend. 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 currently 73.24%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Heritage Commerce

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Heritage Commerce by 3.9% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,309,141 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,392,000 after purchasing an additional 123,973 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new stake in Heritage Commerce during the 3rd quarter valued at $20,093,000. State Street Corp boosted its position in Heritage Commerce by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,965,643 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $19,421,000 after buying an additional 61,630 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in Heritage Commerce by 830.2% in the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,024,377 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,912,000 after acquiring an additional 914,249 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of Heritage Commerce by 21.2% in 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 acquiring an additional 160,977 shares during the period. 75.55% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.