Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA) have been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the four ratings firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $25.00.

HFWA has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Stephens lifted 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. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Heritage Financial from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Heritage Financial from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th.

Heritage Financial Trading Down 2.0 %

HFWA opened at $26.39 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $22.44 and its two-hundred day moving average is $20.56. The company has a market capitalization of $910.46 million, a P/E ratio of 24.44 and a beta of 0.52. Heritage Financial has a 52 week low of $16.41 and a 52 week high of $27.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46.

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $58.17 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.51 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Heritage Financial will post 1.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Heritage Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 6th will be given a dividend of $0.23 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 6th. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.49%. Heritage Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 85.19%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Tony Chalfant sold 2,975 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.50, for a total value of $78,837.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 20,119 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $533,153.50. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Heritage Financial

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of HFWA. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Heritage Financial by 133.7% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,374 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 786 shares during the period. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Heritage Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Heritage Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Point72 DIFC Ltd acquired a new position in Heritage Financial in the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in Heritage Financial in the 2nd quarter worth about $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.