Heritage Commerce (NASDAQ:HTBK) Cut to Sell at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Heritage Commerce (NASDAQ:HTBK - Free Report) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note released on Friday morning.

HTBK has been the topic of a number of other reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of Heritage Commerce from $11.50 to $11.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Raymond James set a $10.00 target price on shares of Heritage Commerce in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $11.00 target price on shares of Heritage Commerce in a research note on Monday, April 28th.

Heritage Commerce Trading Up 0.6%

Heritage Commerce stock traded up $0.06 during trading on Friday, reaching $9.54. 441,938 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 372,575. Heritage Commerce has a 52-week low of $7.74 and a 52-week high of $11.27. The company has a market capitalization of $587.63 million, a P/E ratio of 14.45 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $9.02 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $9.58.

Heritage Commerce (NASDAQ:HTBK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.19 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.18 by $0.01. Heritage Commerce had a return on equity of 5.96% and a net margin of 16.12%. The firm had revenue of $46.06 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $45.89 million. On average, equities research analysts expect that Heritage Commerce will post 0.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Heritage Commerce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 8th were given a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 8th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.45%. Heritage Commerce's dividend payout ratio is currently 76.47%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Heritage Commerce

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Heritage Commerce by 64.9% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,796,472 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $36,142,000 after acquiring an additional 1,493,857 shares during the period. Rhino Investment Partners Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Heritage Commerce in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $5,222,000. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Heritage Commerce by 69.8% in the 1st quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 1,277,630 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $12,163,000 after acquiring an additional 525,060 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Heritage Commerce in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $4,861,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Heritage Commerce in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,181,000. Hedge funds and other 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.