Guardian Investment Management Invests $292,000 in Heritage Commerce Corp (NASDAQ:HTBK)

Guardian Investment Management bought a new position in Heritage Commerce Corp (NASDAQ:HTBK) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 29,465 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $292,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of HTBK. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its stake in Heritage Commerce by 94.0% during the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 18,381 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $182,000 after purchasing an additional 8,905 shares in the last quarter. Strs Ohio raised its stake in Heritage Commerce by 37.8% during the fourth quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 64,900 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $643,000 after purchasing an additional 17,800 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC raised its stake in Heritage Commerce by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 113,254 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,123,000 after purchasing an additional 6,950 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in Heritage Commerce by 31.4% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 242,268 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,403,000 after purchasing an additional 57,882 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Heritage Commerce by 10.9% during the fourth quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 87,264 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $866,000 after purchasing an additional 8,600 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.55% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Jack W. Conner sold 6,944 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.92, for a total value of $61,940.48. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 102,501 shares in the company, valued at approximately $914,308.92. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 4.15% of the company’s stock.

Heritage Commerce Price Performance

Heritage Commerce stock traded up $0.08 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $7.93. The stock had a trading volume of 138,855 shares, compared to its average volume of 391,383. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $485.71 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.41 and a beta of 0.90. Heritage Commerce Corp has a 1-year low of $6.69 and a 1-year high of $10.22. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $8.27 and its two-hundred day moving average is $8.72.

Heritage Commerce (NASDAQ:HTBK) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.24 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $44.24 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $46.38 million. Heritage Commerce had a net margin of 26.49% and a return on equity of 9.78%. As a group, analysts predict that Heritage Commerce Corp will post 0.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Heritage Commerce Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 22nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 8th were given a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 7th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.56%. Heritage Commerce’s dividend payout ratio is currently 49.06%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on HTBK shares. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Heritage Commerce from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. StockNews.com raised Heritage Commerce from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on Heritage Commerce from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Raymond James upped their price target on Heritage Commerce from $9.50 to $11.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Heritage Commerce currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $10.75.

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.