Heritage Insurance (NYSE:HRTG) Trading Down 4.9% on Insider Selling

Key Points

• Heritage Insurance's stock price fell by 4.9% to $22.64 following the insider sale of 21,000 shares by CAO Sharon Binnun, representing a significant decrease in her ownership.
• Analysts have mixed views on the stock, with Wall Street Zen lowering its rating from "strong-buy" to "buy" while Zacks Research upgraded it to “strong-buy”, leading to an average price target of $29.00.
• The company reported earnings per share of $1.55, exceeding analysts' estimates, although revenue was slightly below expectations at $208.04 million.

Heritage Insurance Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:HRTG - Get Free Report)'s stock price dropped 4.9% on Wednesday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock traded as low as $22.77 and last traded at $22.64. Approximately 68,704 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 81% from the average daily volume of 361,124 shares. The stock had previously closed at $23.81.

Specifically, CAO Sharon Binnun sold 21,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.47, for a total transaction of $513,870.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 176,006 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,306,866.82. This trade represents a 10.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on HRTG. Wall Street Zen lowered Heritage Insurance from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Zacks Research raised Heritage Insurance to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and two have given a Buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $29.00.

Heritage Insurance Trading Down 5.0%

The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $22.00 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $19.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.82. The firm has a market cap of $701.33 million, a PE ratio of 6.52 and a beta of 1.05.

Heritage Insurance (NYSE:HRTG - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The insurance provider reported $1.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.03 by $0.52. Heritage Insurance had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 12.71%.The business had revenue of $208.04 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $212.12 million. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Heritage Insurance Holdings, Inc. will post 1.86 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Heritage Insurance

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in HRTG. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Heritage Insurance during the 4th quarter valued at about $7,799,000. Marshall Wace LLP grew its stake in shares of Heritage Insurance by 58.9% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 942,167 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $23,498,000 after purchasing an additional 349,168 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of Heritage Insurance by 290.8% during the 2nd quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 383,582 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $9,567,000 after purchasing an additional 285,425 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its stake in shares of Heritage Insurance by 69.6% during the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 526,377 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $13,128,000 after purchasing an additional 216,019 shares during the period. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Heritage Insurance by 33.6% during the 2nd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 648,773 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $16,180,000 after purchasing an additional 163,142 shares during the period. 59.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Heritage Insurance Company Profile

Heritage Insurance Holdings, Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides personal and commercial residential insurance products. The company offers personal residential insurance in Alabama, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Rhode Island, South Carolina, and Virginia; commercial residential insurance for properties in Florida, New Jersey, and New York; and licensed in the state of Pennsylvania, as well as personal residential and wind-only property insurance.

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