Heritage Commerce (NASDAQ:HTBK) Hits New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

Shares of Heritage Commerce Corp (NASDAQ:HTBK) reached a new 52-week high on Thursday . The company traded as high as $12.91 and last traded at $12.9050, with a volume of 161505 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $12.45.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on HTBK shares. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Heritage Commerce from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 20th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Heritage Commerce from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Raymond James Financial lowered Heritage Commerce from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Janney Montgomery Scott lowered Heritage Commerce from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $12.00 to $14.00 in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Heritage Commerce in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $12.25.

Heritage Commerce Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.75. The company has a market capitalization of $787.50 million, a PE ratio of 18.36 and a beta of 0.80. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $11.68 and its 200 day simple moving average is $10.63.

Heritage Commerce (NASDAQ:HTBK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The financial services provider reported $0.24 earnings per share for the quarter. Heritage Commerce had a net margin of 16.31% and a return on equity of 7.18%. The firm had revenue of $50.01 million during the quarter. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Heritage Commerce Corp will post 0.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Heritage Commerce Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 6th were given a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 6th. Heritage Commerce’s payout ratio is currently 74.29%.

Institutional Trading of Heritage Commerce

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new position in shares of Heritage Commerce in the fourth quarter valued at $5,010,000. Diversified Trust Co. raised its holdings in Heritage Commerce by 14.1% during the fourth quarter. Diversified Trust Co. now owns 23,361 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $281,000 after purchasing an additional 2,892 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Heritage Commerce by 14.2% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 28,694 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $358,000 after buying an additional 3,564 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Heritage Commerce by 2.4% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,883,705 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $18,705,000 after buying an additional 44,948 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Heritage Commerce by 979.3% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 360,543 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,580,000 after acquiring an additional 327,138 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.55% of the company’s stock.

About Heritage Commerce

Heritage Commerce Corporation, headquartered in Farmington Hills, Michigan, is the bank holding company for Heritage Bank, N.A., a community-oriented financial institution. Traded on NASDAQ under the symbol HTBK, the company focuses on delivering tailored banking services to businesses, professionals and individuals throughout Southeastern Michigan.

Heritage Bank, N.A. offers a comprehensive portfolio of deposit and lending products designed to meet the needs of commercial and consumer clients.