Heritage Insurance (NYSE:HRTG) Stock Passes Below Fifty Day Moving Average - Should You Sell?

Key Points

• Heritage Insurance stock fell below its 50-day moving average during Tuesday trading, signaling recent technical weakness. Shares traded as low as $24.01 before last changing hands at $25.04.
• Analysts have become more cautious on the name, with several firms cutting ratings or price targets. The consensus rating is now Hold, though the average target price remains $36.00.
• The company recently missed first-quarter earnings expectations, reporting $1.19 EPS versus the $1.53 estimate. Revenue also came in slightly below forecasts at $212.66 million.

Heritage Insurance Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:HRTG - Get Free Report)'s stock price passed below its 50 day moving average during trading on Tuesday . The stock has a 50 day moving average of $24.47 and traded as low as $24.01. Heritage Insurance shares last traded at $25.04, with a volume of 401,622 shares.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Truist Financial lowered their price target on Heritage Insurance from $39.00 to $36.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 11th. Weiss Ratings cut Heritage Insurance from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Citigroup reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Heritage Insurance in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Heritage Insurance from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of Heritage Insurance from a "strong-buy" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $36.00.

Heritage Insurance Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $759.96 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.84 and a beta of 0.91. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $24.47 and a 200 day simple moving average of $26.09. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Heritage Insurance (NYSE:HRTG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The insurance provider reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.53 by ($0.34). The company had revenue of $212.66 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $215.39 million. Heritage Insurance had a return on equity of 43.68% and a net margin of 23.76%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Heritage Insurance Holdings, Inc. will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Paul L. Whiting purchased 16,000 shares of Heritage Insurance stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 19th. The stock was bought 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 owned 103,126 shares in the company, valued at $2,429,648.56. The trade was a 18.36% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Sharon Binnun sold 9,200 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.72, for a total transaction of $236,624.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 133,188 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,425,595.36. This trade represents a 6.46% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 77,224 shares of company stock valued at $2,034,411 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 9.20% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Heritage Insurance

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of HRTG. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Heritage Insurance by 14.2% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,881,027 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $55,039,000 after buying an additional 234,296 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Heritage Insurance by 1,078.7% in the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 140,879 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $3,514,000 after buying an additional 128,927 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC increased its position in Heritage Insurance by 181.7% in the 4th quarter. Nuveen LLC now owns 169,454 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $4,958,000 after acquiring an additional 109,307 shares during the period. Pacific Ridge Capital Partners LLC increased its position in Heritage Insurance by 27.2% in the 3rd quarter. Pacific Ridge Capital Partners LLC now owns 458,929 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $11,556,000 after acquiring an additional 98,246 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in Heritage Insurance by 92.5% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 194,689 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $5,111,000 after acquiring an additional 93,548 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 59.03% of the company's stock.

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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