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

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

Heritage Commerce Price Performance

Shares of Heritage Commerce stock opened at $10.62 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.73. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $10.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $9.45. Heritage Commerce has a twelve month low of $7.66 and a twelve month high of $11.27. The firm has a market cap of $651.04 million, a P/E ratio of 14.96 and a beta of 0.93.

Heritage Commerce (NASDAQ:HTBK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.17 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.17. The firm had revenue of $63.68 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $43.14 million. Heritage Commerce had a net margin of 17.61% and a return on equity of 6.37%. As a group, research analysts expect that Heritage Commerce will post 0.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Heritage Commerce Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 7th were given a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 7th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.90%. Heritage Commerce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 73.24%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Heritage Commerce

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Heritage Commerce by 3.9% in 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 buying an additional 123,973 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new position in shares of Heritage Commerce during the third quarter worth approximately $20,093,000. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Heritage Commerce by 3.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,965,643 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $19,421,000 after purchasing an additional 61,630 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in shares of Heritage Commerce by 830.2% during 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 in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position 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 worth $8,016,000 after purchasing an additional 160,977 shares in the last quarter. 75.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.