Heritage Insurance (NYSE:HRTG) Raised to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen upgraded Heritage Insurance from “hold” to “buy,” joining other positive analyst views. The stock has an overall “Buy” consensus rating and a $36.50 average price target.
• Heritage reported quarterly EPS of $2.05, exceeding the $1.25 consensus estimate, while revenue of $214.19 million slightly surpassed expectations.
• HRTG shares opened at $33.90, near their 52-week high of $36.50, with institutional investors owning 59.03% of the company; insiders own 9.20% and sold 42,704 shares in the latest quarter.

Heritage Insurance (NYSE:HRTG - Get Free Report) was upgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Saturday.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on HRTG. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Heritage Insurance from $36.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Heritage Insurance in a report on Friday, August 7th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Heritage Insurance from $27.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Heritage Insurance from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $36.50.

Heritage Insurance Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE HRTG opened at $33.90 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $27.23 and a 200-day moving average price of $26.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The stock has a market cap of $1.01 billion, a PE ratio of 4.83 and a beta of 0.89. Heritage Insurance has a 1 year low of $20.48 and a 1 year high of $36.50.

Heritage Insurance (NYSE:HRTG - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The insurance provider reported $2.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.80. The company had revenue of $214.19 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $212.71 million. Heritage Insurance had a return on equity of 42.41% and a net margin of 25.19%. Equities analysts anticipate that Heritage Insurance will post 5.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Heritage Insurance

In other Heritage Insurance news, CAO Sharon Binnun sold 9,200 shares of Heritage Insurance stock in a transaction on Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.03, for a total transaction of $276,276.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 96,388 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,894,531.64. The trade was a 8.71% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Paul L. Whiting acquired 16,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 19th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $23.56 per share, with a total value of $376,960.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 103,126 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,429,648.56. This represents a 18.36% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 42,704 shares of company stock worth $1,235,653. Company insiders own 9.20% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Heritage Insurance during the second quarter valued at $60,842,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Heritage Insurance by 14.2% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,881,027 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $55,039,000 after acquiring an additional 234,296 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Heritage Insurance by 3.0% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,246,923 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $32,732,000 after acquiring an additional 36,879 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its position in Heritage Insurance by 8.7% during the 3rd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,024,357 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $25,793,000 after acquiring an additional 82,190 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Heritage Insurance by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 665,902 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $19,486,000 after purchasing an additional 34,996 shares during the last quarter. 59.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Heritage Insurance

Heritage Insurance Holdings, Inc NYSE: HRTG is a property and casualty insurance holding company that offers homeowners insurance and related coverage products in the United States. Through its primary subsidiary, Heritage Property & Casualty Insurance Company, the firm underwrites standard and non-standard personal lines insurance, including homeowners, dwelling fire, flood, and condominium policies. Heritage leverages a network of independent insurance agents to distribute its products across select regional markets, with an emphasis on serving property owners in areas prone to severe weather events.

Founded in 2011 and headquartered in Jupiter, Florida, Heritage Insurance has grown to become one of the leading providers of residential property insurance in the state.

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