Analysts Set Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA) Price Target at $23.50

Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA) has earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the four ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $23.50.

A number of brokerages have weighed in on HFWA. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Heritage Financial from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Heritage Financial from $23.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th.

Heritage Financial Trading Up 3.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ HFWA opened at $22.78 on Tuesday. Heritage Financial has a twelve month low of $15.50 and a twelve month high of $23.82. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The stock has a market cap of $790.24 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.94 and a beta of 0.53. The company’s fifty day moving average is $21.80 and its 200-day moving average is $19.38.

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.04. Heritage Financial had a net margin of 14.59% and a return on equity of 7.95%. The company had revenue of $56.36 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $58.27 million. Equities research analysts predict that Heritage Financial will post 1.66 EPS for the current year.

Heritage Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 21st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 7th were paid a $0.23 dividend. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.04%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 7th. Heritage Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 69.17%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Heritage Financial

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Jennison Associates LLC bought a new stake in Heritage Financial during the 1st quarter worth approximately $14,612,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its position in Heritage Financial by 899.6% in the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 182,650 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,927,000 after purchasing an additional 164,377 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE raised its stake in Heritage Financial by 212.4% during the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 206,776 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,009,000 after purchasing an additional 140,592 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Heritage Financial by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,733,722 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,085,000 after purchasing an additional 92,319 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new stake in shares of Heritage Financial in the 4th quarter worth about $1,602,000. Institutional investors own 78.30% of the company’s stock.

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.