Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) Raised to “Hold” at StockNews.com

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) was upgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Monday.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on HFWA. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Heritage Financial from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Stephens raised their target price on shares of Heritage Financial from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th.

Heritage Financial Price Performance

HFWA stock opened at $25.25 on Monday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $25.09 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $23.37. Heritage Financial has a 12 month low of $16.55 and a 12 month high of $27.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The firm has a market cap of $862.29 million, a P/E ratio of 23.38 and a beta of 0.57.

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.06. Heritage Financial had a return on equity of 7.01% and a net margin of 12.27%. On average, analysts anticipate that Heritage Financial will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Frederick B. Rivera sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.43, for a total transaction of $101,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,844 shares in the company, valued at $97,752.92. This trade represents a 50.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Tony Chalfant sold 2,975 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.50, for a total value of $78,837.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 20,119 shares in the company, valued at $533,153.50. The trade was a 12.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Heritage Financial

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake in shares of Heritage Financial by 71.4% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,741,058 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,903,000 after purchasing an additional 725,257 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Heritage Financial by 4.3% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,934,852 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,884,000 after buying an additional 80,044 shares during the period. Nwam LLC bought a new position in shares of Heritage Financial during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,194,000. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Heritage Financial during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $951,000. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its position in shares of Heritage Financial by 105.4% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 73,300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,595,000 after acquiring an additional 37,606 shares during the period. 78.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.