Heritage Insurance (NYSE:HRTG) Lifted to “Strong-Buy” at StockNews.com

Heritage Insurance (NYSE:HRTG) was upgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report released on Tuesday.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on HRTG. Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Heritage Insurance from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $9.00 to $13.00 in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Heritage Insurance from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $10.67.

Heritage Insurance Stock Performance

Shares of HRTG stock traded down $0.47 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $11.77. 1,169,292 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 452,693. Heritage Insurance has a 12-month low of $5.03 and a 12-month high of $16.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $360.59 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.18 and a beta of 0.97. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $13.18 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $10.22.

Heritage Insurance (NYSE:HRTG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The insurance provider reported $0.61 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $203.57 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $196.81 million. Heritage Insurance had a return on equity of 26.27% and a net margin of 7.37%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.32 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Heritage Insurance will post 1.93 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Heritage Insurance news, Chairman Richard A. Widdicombe bought 4,437 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 16th. The shares were bought at an average price of $14.55 per share, for a total transaction of $64,558.35. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 696,497 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,134,031.35. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, Chairman Richard A. Widdicombe purchased 4,437 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 16th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $14.55 per share, for a total transaction of $64,558.35. Following the acquisition, the chairman now directly owns 696,497 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,134,031.35. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Ernie J. Garateix acquired 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 9th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $8.59 per share, for a total transaction of $42,950.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 1,072,584 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,213,496.56. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 14.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in HRTG. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in shares of Heritage Insurance by 8.1% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 96,678 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,030,000 after purchasing an additional 7,203 shares in the last quarter. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Heritage Insurance in the first quarter valued at $155,000. Fortis Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Heritage Insurance during the first quarter valued at $134,000. Kennedy Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Heritage Insurance during the 1st quarter worth about $663,000. Finally, Instrumental Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Heritage Insurance by 109.1% during the first quarter. Instrumental Wealth LLC now owns 27,791 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $296,000 after buying an additional 14,500 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, 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.