Zacks Research Downgrades Heritage Insurance (NYSE:HRTG) to Strong Sell

Key Points

• Zacks Research downgraded Heritage Insurance from strong-buy to strong sell, adding to a mixed analyst picture that now shows a consensus Hold rating and a $36.00 target price.
• Heritage Insurance reported Q1 earnings of $1.19 per share, which missed estimates of $1.53, while revenue also came in slightly below expectations at $212.66 million.
• The stock was trading up 3.6% at $22.99, but recent insider selling and a broader analyst shift suggest caution despite the company’s low valuation metrics.

Heritage Insurance (NYSE:HRTG - Get Free Report) was downgraded by investment analysts at Zacks Research from a "strong-buy" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report released on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

HRTG has been the topic of several other reports. Citigroup restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Heritage Insurance in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Heritage Insurance from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Monday. Truist Financial lowered their price target on shares of Heritage Insurance from $39.00 to $36.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Heritage Insurance from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Heritage Insurance currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $36.00.

Heritage Insurance Trading Up 3.6%

Heritage Insurance stock opened at $22.99 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.80. The firm has a market cap of $697.72 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 1.03. Heritage Insurance has a 1 year low of $16.83 and a 1 year high of $31.98. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $27.06 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $27.04.

Heritage Insurance (NYSE:HRTG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The insurance provider reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.53 by ($0.34). Heritage Insurance had a return on equity of 43.68% and a net margin of 23.76%.The business had revenue of $212.66 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $215.39 million. On average, research analysts predict that Heritage Insurance will post 4.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Sharon Binnun sold 9,200 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 133,188 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,425,595.36. The trade was a 6.46% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Timothy Moura sold 29,133 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.63, for a total transaction of $775,811.79. Following the transaction, the insider owned 210,535 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,606,547.05. The trade was a 12.16% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 130,918 shares of company stock valued at $3,446,606 in the last quarter. Insiders own 14.00% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Heritage Insurance

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HRTG. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in 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 last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Heritage Insurance by 1,078.7% during the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 140,879 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $3,514,000 after purchasing an additional 128,927 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC increased its holdings in shares of Heritage Insurance by 181.7% in the fourth quarter. Nuveen LLC now owns 169,454 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $4,958,000 after purchasing an additional 109,307 shares in the last quarter. Pacific Ridge Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Heritage Insurance by 27.2% in the third quarter. Pacific Ridge Capital Partners LLC now owns 458,929 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $11,556,000 after purchasing an additional 98,246 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Heritage Insurance by 39.8% in the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 322,957 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $4,657,000 after purchasing an additional 91,982 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 59.03% of the company's stock.

Heritage Insurance Company Profile

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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