Heritage Insurance Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:HRTG) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Heritage Insurance Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:HRTG) was the target of a significant growth in short interest during the month of July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,100,000 shares, a growth of 44.1% from the June 30th total of 763,500 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 422,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.6 days. Approximately 4.9% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Heritage Insurance Stock Down 1.7 %

Shares of HRTG traded down $0.13 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $7.62. 219,020 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 407,043. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $7.54 and a 200-day moving average price of $7.90. The company has a market cap of $233.48 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.63 and a beta of 0.90. Heritage Insurance has a 1-year low of $4.25 and a 1-year high of $11.23. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52.

Heritage Insurance (NYSE:HRTG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The insurance provider reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.61 by ($0.14). The company had revenue of $191.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $189.05 million. Heritage Insurance had a return on equity of 24.02% and a net margin of 6.07%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.55 EPS. Research analysts expect that Heritage Insurance will post 1.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Heritage Insurance

In other Heritage Insurance news, Director Paul L. Whiting acquired 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 6th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $8.35 per share, for a total transaction of $417,500.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 59,662 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $498,177.70. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Heritage Insurance news, Director Paul L. Whiting acquired 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 6th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $8.35 per share, for a total transaction of $417,500.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 59,662 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $498,177.70. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Ernie J. Garateix bought 5,000 shares of Heritage Insurance stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $8.21 per share, for a total transaction of $41,050.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,067,584 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,764,864.64. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have acquired 60,000 shares of company stock worth $497,250 over the last quarter. 14.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Heritage Insurance

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in shares of Heritage Insurance by 265.3% during the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 314,856 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,353,000 after acquiring an additional 228,655 shares during the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management increased its position in shares of Heritage Insurance by 232.0% during the fourth quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 34,097 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $222,000 after acquiring an additional 23,826 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Heritage Insurance by 13.0% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 104,000 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $678,000 after acquiring an additional 12,000 shares during the last quarter. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Heritage Insurance during the first quarter worth about $155,000. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC bought a new stake in Heritage Insurance in the fourth quarter valued at about $40,000. 59.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on HRTG shares. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Heritage Insurance in a report on Monday, April 15th. Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $9.00 target price on shares of Heritage Insurance in a report on Monday, April 1st. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Heritage Insurance from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $9.00.

Heritage Insurance Company Profile

Heritage Insurance Holdings, Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides personal and commercial residential insurance products. The company offers personal residential insurance in Alabama, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Rhode Island, South Carolina, and Virginia; commercial residential insurance for properties in Florida, New Jersey, and New York; and licensed in the state of Pennsylvania, as well as personal residential and wind-only property insurance.