Zacks Research Downgrades Heritage Insurance (NYSE:HRTG) to Strong Sell

Heritage Insurance (NYSE:HRTG) was downgraded by equities researchers at Zacks Research from a “strong-buy” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research firms have also weighed in on HRTG. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Heritage Insurance from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Heritage Insurance from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday. Truist Financial cut their target price on shares of Heritage Insurance from $39.00 to $36.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Heritage Insurance in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $36.00.

Heritage Insurance Trading Up 3.6%

Shares of NYSE HRTG opened at $22.99 on Monday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $27.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $27.04. Heritage Insurance has a fifty-two week low of $16.83 and a fifty-two week high of $31.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $697.72 million, a P/E ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.83.

Heritage Insurance (NYSE:HRTG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The insurance provider reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.53 by ($0.34). Heritage Insurance had a net margin of 23.76% and a return on equity of 43.68%. The business had revenue of $212.66 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $215.39 million. On average, analysts predict that Heritage Insurance will post 4.58 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Heritage Insurance

In related news, CEO Ernie J. Garateix sold 8,334 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.56, for a total value of $229,685.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,060,955 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,239,919.80. This trade represents a 0.78% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Timothy Moura sold 24,769 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.76, for a total transaction of $638,049.44. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 160,045 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,122,759.20. This trade represents a 13.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 130,918 shares of company stock worth $3,446,606 over the last quarter. 14.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Heritage Insurance

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC increased its position in shares of Heritage Insurance by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 26,303 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $690,000 after purchasing an additional 489 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada increased its position in shares of Heritage Insurance by 72.6% during the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 1,182 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 497 shares during the last quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL increased its position in shares of Heritage Insurance by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL now owns 186,380 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $4,693,000 after purchasing an additional 503 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its position in shares of Heritage Insurance by 4.2% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 13,621 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $196,000 after purchasing an additional 546 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Graham Capital Management L.P. increased its position in shares of Heritage Insurance by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Graham Capital Management L.P. now owns 19,378 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $567,000 after purchasing an additional 789 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 59.03% of the company’s stock.

About Heritage Insurance

Heritage Insurance Holdings, Inc (NYSE: HRTG) is a property and casualty insurance holding company that offers homeowners insurance and related coverage products in the United States. Through its primary subsidiary, Heritage Property & Casualty Insurance Company, the firm underwrites standard and non-standard personal lines insurance, including homeowners, dwelling fire, flood, and condominium policies. Heritage leverages a network of independent insurance agents to distribute its products across select regional markets, with an emphasis on serving property owners in areas prone to severe weather events.

Founded in 2011 and headquartered in Jupiter, Florida, Heritage Insurance has grown to become one of the leading providers of residential property insurance in the state.