Heritage Insurance (NYSE:HRTG) Trading 3.4% Higher – Should You Buy?

Heritage Insurance Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:HRTG)’s share price rose 3.4% on Friday . The company traded as high as $14.15 and last traded at $14.25. Approximately 72,638 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 81% from the average daily volume of 382,085 shares. The stock had previously closed at $13.78.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com lowered Heritage Insurance from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th.

Heritage Insurance Stock Up 7.1 %

The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $12.08 and its 200-day moving average price is $12.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The company has a market cap of $632.32 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.90 and a beta of 1.00.

Heritage Insurance (NYSE:HRTG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 11th. The insurance provider reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.17) by $0.83. The company had revenue of $210.26 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $199.87 million. Heritage Insurance had a return on equity of 29.17% and a net margin of 9.10%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Heritage Insurance Holdings, Inc. will post 1.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Heritage Insurance announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Monday, December 9th that authorizes the company to repurchase $10.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the insurance provider to reacquire up to 2.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other Heritage Insurance news, CEO Ernie J. Garateix acquired 5,000 shares of Heritage Insurance stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 14th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $12.77 per share, for a total transaction of $63,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,270,808 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,228,218.16. This represents a 0.40 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Paul L. Whiting purchased 10,000 shares of Heritage Insurance stock in a transaction on Friday, March 14th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $13.35 per share, with a total value of $133,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 79,576 shares in the company, valued at $1,062,339.60. This trade represents a 14.37 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders bought 21,000 shares of company stock worth $280,450. 14.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Heritage Insurance

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Mackenzie Financial Corp bought a new stake in shares of Heritage Insurance in the 4th quarter worth approximately $305,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new position in Heritage Insurance in the fourth quarter worth approximately $797,000. Man Group plc bought a new position in shares of Heritage Insurance in the fourth quarter valued at $662,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Heritage Insurance during the 4th quarter worth $7,799,000. Finally, Graham Capital Management L.P. increased its stake in Heritage Insurance by 213.7% in the 4th quarter. Graham Capital Management L.P. now owns 44,674 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $541,000 after purchasing an additional 30,434 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 59.03% of the company’s stock.

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.