Heritage Commerce (NASDAQ:HTBK) Stock Rating Upgraded by Stephens

Stephens upgraded shares of Heritage Commerce (NASDAQ:HTBK) from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating in a research report report published on Friday, Marketbeat.com reports.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. StockNews.com raised Heritage Commerce from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on shares of Heritage Commerce from $12.50 to $11.50 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th.

Heritage Commerce Stock Up 1.0 %

Heritage Commerce stock opened at $10.32 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $632.65 million, a P/E ratio of 15.64 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $9.67 and a 200-day simple moving average of $9.89. Heritage Commerce has a one year low of $7.66 and a one year high of $11.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.73.

Heritage Commerce (NASDAQ:HTBK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.17 EPS for the quarter, meeting 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, equities analysts expect that Heritage Commerce will post 0.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Heritage Commerce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.04%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 6th. Heritage Commerce’s payout ratio is currently 78.79%.

Institutional Trading of Heritage Commerce

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of HTBK. Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new position in Heritage Commerce during the third quarter worth about $20,093,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Heritage Commerce in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,181,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in Heritage Commerce by 58.4% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 463,774 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,350,000 after buying an additional 170,989 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in Heritage Commerce by 3.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,965,643 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $19,421,000 after buying an additional 61,630 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D increased its holdings in shares of Heritage Commerce by 16.9% in the fourth quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 310,915 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,916,000 after buying an additional 45,010 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.