Heritage Insurance (NYSE:HRTG) Reaches New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

Shares of Heritage Insurance Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:HRTG) reached a new 52-week high on Wednesday. The stock traded as high as $37.36 and last traded at $36.9340, with a volume of 229,626 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $35.93.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Heritage Insurance from $27.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Raymond James Financial began coverage on Heritage Insurance in a research report on Friday, October 16th. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Heritage Insurance from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 8th. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Heritage Insurance from $36.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Heritage Insurance from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 17th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Heritage Insurance presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $36.50.

Heritage Insurance Stock Performance

The stock has a fifty day moving average of $34.51 and a 200-day moving average of $29.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.36 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

Heritage Insurance (NYSE:HRTG) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The insurance provider reported $2.05 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.80. The business had revenue of $214.19 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $212.71 million. Heritage Insurance had a net margin of 25.19% and a return on equity of 42.41%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Heritage Insurance Holdings, Inc. will post 5.33 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Heritage Insurance

In other news, CEO Ernie Garateix sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.25, for a total value of $88,125.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,035,955 shares in the company, valued at $36,517,413.75. This trade represents a 0.24% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Sharon Binnun sold 6,565 shares of Heritage Insurance stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.81, for a total value of $221,962.65. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 80,623 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,725,863.63. This represents a 7.53% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 80,569 shares of company stock valued at $2,703,920. Corporate insiders own 9.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Heritage Insurance

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in HRTG. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Heritage Insurance in the second quarter valued at $60,842,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Heritage Insurance by 3.0% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,246,923 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $32,732,000 after buying an additional 36,879 shares during the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new stake in Heritage Insurance during the second quarter worth $14,437,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in Heritage Insurance by 7.4% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 282,917 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $9,379,000 after acquiring an additional 19,596 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in Heritage Insurance during the second quarter worth $6,070,000. 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 company focused primarily on residential insurance. Through its insurance subsidiaries, the company provides coverage for homeowners, condominium owners, renters and other residential property owners, including protection against risks such as wind, fire and other covered losses.

Heritage distributes its products through independent agents and other insurance distribution channels. Its business has historically been concentrated in catastrophe-exposed coastal markets, particularly Florida, and has also included operations in additional states across the southeastern United States.