Heritage Insurance (NYSE:HRTG) Raised to Strong-Buy at Wall Street Zen

Heritage Insurance (NYSE:HRTG) was upgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

Several other research firms have also commented on HRTG. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Heritage Insurance from $27.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Zacks Research cut shares of Heritage Insurance from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 9th. Truist Financial increased their price objective 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. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Heritage Insurance from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 8th. Finally, Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on shares of Heritage Insurance in a report on Friday. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Heritage Insurance has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $36.50.

Heritage Insurance Stock Up 0.3%

NYSE:HRTG opened at $35.87 on Friday. Heritage Insurance has a 1-year low of $20.48 and a 1-year high of $37.30. The company has a 50-day moving average of $34.18 and a 200 day moving average of $28.82. The firm has a market cap of $1.07 billion, a PE ratio of 5.11 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.83.

Heritage Insurance (NYSE:HRTG) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The insurance provider reported $2.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.80. The company had revenue of $214.19 million for 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%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Heritage Insurance will post 5.50 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Heritage Insurance

In related news, CEO Ernie J. Garateix sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.88, for a total transaction of $348,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,040,955 shares in the company, valued at $36,308,510.40. This represents a 0.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Timothy Moura sold 15,104 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.49, for a total value of $490,728.96. Following the sale, the insider owned 144,941 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,709,133.09. This trade represents a 9.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders sold 77,069 shares of company stock worth $2,578,235. Company insiders own 9.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Heritage Insurance

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Heritage Insurance in the second quarter worth $60,842,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 36,879 shares in the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Heritage Insurance during the second quarter worth $14,437,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 19,596 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new stake in shares of Heritage Insurance during the 2nd quarter valued at $6,070,000. 59.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Heritage Insurance Company Profile

Heritage Insurance Holdings, Inc (NYSE: HRTG) is a property and casualty insurance holding company focused primarily on residential property insurance. Through its operating subsidiaries, the company provides coverage for homeowners, condominium owners, renters, and other residential property owners, including protection against risks such as wind, storm, fire, and other covered losses.

Heritage has historically concentrated on catastrophe-exposed markets, particularly Florida and other coastal areas of the southeastern United States.