Franklin Resources Inc. Reduces Stake in Heritage Insurance Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:HRTG)

Franklin Resources Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Heritage Insurance Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:HRTG) by 82.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,362 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 61,931 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Heritage Insurance were worth $164,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. ClariVest Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Heritage Insurance by 2.7% during the second quarter. ClariVest Asset Management LLC now owns 61,396 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $435,000 after buying an additional 1,620 shares during the period. nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Heritage Insurance during the third quarter worth about $49,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Heritage Insurance by 3.9% in the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 106,000 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $750,000 after purchasing an additional 4,000 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Heritage Insurance by 15.1% in the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 32,700 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $400,000 after acquiring an additional 4,300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in Heritage Insurance by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 109,552 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,341,000 after purchasing an additional 5,494 shares during the period. 59.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Nicholas George Pappas sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.64, for a total value of $50,560.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 76,314 shares in the company, valued at approximately $964,608.96. This trade represents a 4.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 14.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com raised Heritage Insurance from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th.

Heritage Insurance Price Performance

Heritage Insurance stock opened at $12.22 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $11.87 and a 200-day moving average of $11.28. Heritage Insurance Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $5.51 and a 52-week high of $16.90. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $374.91 million, a P/E ratio of 4.89 and a beta of 1.02.

Heritage Insurance (NYSE:HRTG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The insurance provider reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.02 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $211.85 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $209.91 million. Heritage Insurance had a return on equity of 29.17% and a net margin of 9.10%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.28) EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Heritage Insurance Holdings, Inc. will post 1.27 EPS for the current year.

Heritage Insurance declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Monday, December 9th that allows the company to repurchase $10.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the insurance provider to repurchase up to 2.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.