Proficio Capital Partners LLC Makes New Investment in Heritage Commerce Corp (NASDAQ:HTBK)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Heritage Commerce Corp (NASDAQ:HTBK) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm bought 18,441 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $173,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Heritage Commerce by 12.6% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 127,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,191,000 after purchasing an additional 14,200 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Heritage Commerce by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 500,637 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,696,000 after purchasing an additional 4,447 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE grew its stake in shares of Heritage Commerce by 64.8% in the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 3,473 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 1,365 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Heritage Commerce during the 4th quarter worth approximately $99,000. Finally, State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D raised its position in shares of Heritage Commerce by 16.9% during the 4th 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 during the period. 75.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Heritage Commerce Stock Performance

Shares of HTBK stock opened at $9.72 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.73. The firm has a market cap of $597.23 million, a P/E ratio of 14.73 and a beta of 0.92. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $9.95 and its 200-day moving average price is $9.93. Heritage Commerce Corp has a one year low of $7.66 and a one year high of $11.27.

Heritage Commerce (NASDAQ:HTBK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.17 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.17. Heritage Commerce had a return on equity of 5.96% and a net margin of 16.12%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Heritage Commerce Corp will post 0.8 EPS for the current year.

Heritage Commerce Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 6th were issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 6th. Heritage Commerce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 78.79%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Heritage Commerce

In other Heritage Commerce news, Director Jack W. Conner sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.52, for a total value of $42,080.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 108,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,141,546.24. This trade represents a 3.56 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Robertson Clay Jones, Jr. sold 5,145 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.73, for a total transaction of $50,060.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 254,227 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,473,628.71. This trade represents a 1.98 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 10,747 shares of company stock valued at $107,728 in the last three months. 3.99% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HTBK has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded Heritage Commerce from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on Heritage Commerce from $12.50 to $11.50 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Stephens raised Heritage Commerce from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd.

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.