Heritage Commerce (NASDAQ:HTBK) Shares Gap Down – Here’s What Happened

Heritage Commerce Corp (NASDAQ:HTBK) shares gapped down before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $10.56, but opened at $10.17. Heritage Commerce shares last traded at $10.55, with a volume of 17,304 shares traded.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on HTBK. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on Heritage Commerce from $12.50 to $11.50 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Stephens upgraded Heritage Commerce from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Heritage Commerce from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th.

Heritage Commerce Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $645.83 million, a P/E ratio of 15.95 and a beta of 0.96. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $9.70 and its two-hundred day moving average is $9.93. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06.

Heritage Commerce (NASDAQ:HTBK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.17 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.17. Heritage Commerce had a net margin of 16.12% and a return on equity of 5.96%. As a group, research analysts expect that Heritage Commerce Corp will post 0.8 EPS for the current year.

Heritage Commerce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 6th were paid a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 6th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.94%. Heritage Commerce’s dividend payout ratio is currently 78.79%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Heritage Commerce

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quarry LP lifted 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 acquiring an additional 2,677 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE grew its position in Heritage Commerce by 64.8% in the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 3,473 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 1,365 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Heritage Commerce by 103.7% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,832 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $77,000 after buying an additional 3,987 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Heritage Commerce in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $97,000. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in Heritage Commerce in the 4th quarter valued at about $99,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.