Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA) Receives $25.00 Average Price Target from Analysts

Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA) has been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the four research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $25.00.

Several research firms have issued reports on HFWA. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Heritage Financial from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Stephens boosted their price target on Heritage Financial from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th.

Heritage Financial Stock Performance

Shares of HFWA opened at $26.11 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82. Heritage Financial has a one year low of $16.55 and a one year high of $27.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $891.66 million, a P/E ratio of 24.18 and a beta of 0.55. The business has a fifty day moving average of $23.65 and a 200 day moving average of $21.31.

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.42 by ($0.09). Heritage Financial had a net margin of 12.27% and a return on equity of 7.01%. The company had revenue of $81.65 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $58.17 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.51 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Heritage Financial will post 1.65 EPS for the current year.

Heritage Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 6th were paid a $0.23 dividend. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 6th. Heritage Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 85.19%.

Insider Transactions at Heritage Financial

In related news, EVP Tony Chalfant sold 2,975 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.50, for a total transaction of $78,837.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 20,119 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $533,153.50. This represents a 12.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.68% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Heritage Financial

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CWM LLC boosted its stake in Heritage Financial by 17.1% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,297 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $72,000 after buying an additional 481 shares during the last quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System boosted its stake in Heritage Financial by 9.4% during the third quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 5,796 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $126,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Heritage Financial by 43.7% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,975 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 601 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new position in Heritage Financial during the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in Heritage Financial by 5.2% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 29,784 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $578,000 after buying an additional 1,471 shares during the last quarter. 78.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Heritage Financial Company Profile

Heritage Financial Corporation operates as the bank holding company for Heritage Bank that provides various financial services to small and medium sized businesses and individuals in the United States. It accepts various deposit products, such as noninterest demand deposits, interest bearing demand deposits, money market accounts, savings accounts, personal checking accounts, and certificates of deposit.