29,465 Shares in Heritage Commerce Corp (NASDAQ:HTBK) Bought by Guardian Investment Management

Guardian Investment Management bought a new position in Heritage Commerce Corp (NASDAQ:HTBK) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 29,465 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $292,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HTBK. BlackRock Inc. lifted its position in Heritage Commerce by 32.5% during the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 7,529,426 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $62,344,000 after buying an additional 1,847,750 shares in the last quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Heritage Commerce by 83.3% during the 2nd quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 1,136,231 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,408,000 after buying an additional 516,348 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new stake in Heritage Commerce during the 1st quarter worth about $2,832,000. Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its position in Heritage Commerce by 132.7% during the 1st quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 427,202 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,559,000 after buying an additional 243,600 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rosenthal Henry Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Heritage Commerce during the 3rd quarter worth about $1,863,000. 75.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Jack W. Conner sold 6,944 shares of Heritage Commerce stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.92, for a total transaction of $61,940.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 102,501 shares in the company, valued at $914,308.92. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 4.15% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on HTBK. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on shares of Heritage Commerce from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 26th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Heritage Commerce from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. StockNews.com raised shares of Heritage Commerce from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Raymond James upped their target price on shares of Heritage Commerce from $9.50 to $11.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Heritage Commerce presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $10.75.

Heritage Commerce Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ HTBK traded up $0.08 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $7.93. 138,855 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 391,383. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.77. The company has a market cap of $485.71 million, a PE ratio of 7.41 and a beta of 0.90. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $8.27 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $8.72. Heritage Commerce Corp has a 1-year low of $6.69 and a 1-year high of $10.22.

Heritage Commerce (NASDAQ:HTBK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.24 by ($0.02). Heritage Commerce had a net margin of 26.49% and a return on equity of 9.78%. The business had revenue of $44.24 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $46.38 million. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Heritage Commerce Corp will post 0.81 EPS for the current year.

Heritage Commerce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 22nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 8th were issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.56%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 7th. Heritage Commerce’s dividend payout ratio is currently 49.06%.

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.