Heritage Commerce (NASDAQ:HTBK) Stock Passes Above Two Hundred Day Moving Average – Should You Sell?

Shares of Heritage Commerce Corp (NASDAQ:HTBK) crossed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Friday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $9.89 and traded as high as $10.79. Heritage Commerce shares last traded at $10.65, with a volume of 474,646 shares changing hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HTBK has been the subject of several analyst reports. Stephens raised Heritage Commerce from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on Heritage Commerce from $12.50 to $11.50 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Heritage Commerce from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th.

Heritage Commerce Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $9.67 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $9.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $652.85 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.14 and a beta of 0.96.

Heritage Commerce (NASDAQ:HTBK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.17 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate 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 forecast that Heritage Commerce Corp will post 0.8 EPS for the current year.

Heritage Commerce Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 6th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.88%. Heritage Commerce’s payout ratio is presently 78.79%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Heritage Commerce

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in HTBK. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings in shares of Heritage Commerce by 43.2% in the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 43,205 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $427,000 after purchasing an additional 13,035 shares during the period. CWM LLC boosted its position in shares of Heritage Commerce by 46.3% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 14,536 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $144,000 after acquiring an additional 4,600 shares during the period. Creative Planning boosted its position in shares of Heritage Commerce by 26.2% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 95,262 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $941,000 after acquiring an additional 19,800 shares during the period. One Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Heritage Commerce in the third quarter valued at $99,000. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Heritage Commerce in the third quarter valued at $73,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.55% of the company’s stock.

About Heritage Commerce

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.