Heritage Commerce (NASDAQ:HTBK) Sees Strong Trading Volume - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Heritage Commerce Corp experienced a surge in trading volume, with 1,018,739 shares traded on Wednesday, a 156% increase from the previous day.
• Wall Street analysts have varied opinions on Heritage Commerce, with price targets ranging from $10.00 to $11.00 and ratings from "overweight" to "sell."
• The company will pay a quarterly dividend of $0.13 per share on August 21st, reflecting an annualized yield of 5.59% and a payout ratio of 82.54%.

Shares of Heritage Commerce Corp (NASDAQ:HTBK - Get Free Report) saw an uptick in trading volume on Wednesday . 1,018,739 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 156% from the previous session's volume of 397,258 shares.The stock last traded at $9.56 and had previously closed at $9.63.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on HTBK. Stephens restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $11.00 price target on shares of Heritage Commerce in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Heritage Commerce from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 26th. Raymond James Financial set a $10.00 price objective on Heritage Commerce in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on Heritage Commerce from $11.50 to $11.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 25th.

Heritage Commerce Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $569.76 million, a P/E ratio of 14.68 and a beta of 0.81. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $9.76 and a 200-day moving average price of $9.59. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06.

Heritage Commerce (NASDAQ:HTBK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.19 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $47.78 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $47.17 million. Heritage Commerce had a return on equity of 6.62% and a net margin of 15.00%. On average, analysts expect that Heritage Commerce Corp will post 0.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Heritage Commerce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 21st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 7th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.6%. Heritage Commerce's dividend payout ratio is currently 82.54%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Heritage Commerce by 143.5% during the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,851 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 1,680 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP grew its stake in shares of Heritage Commerce by 562.4% during the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 3,153 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 2,677 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE grew its stake in shares of Heritage Commerce by 66.7% during the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 5,789 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 2,316 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Heritage Commerce during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $97,000. Finally, Oxford Asset Management LLP bought a new position in shares of Heritage Commerce during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $101,000. 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.