Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA) Given Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Shares of Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA - Get Free Report) have received a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the four brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $25.00.

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on HFWA. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Heritage Financial from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Stephens increased their target price on shares of 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

NASDAQ HFWA traded down $0.35 on Friday, hitting $26.45. 93,703 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 208,906. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $23.56 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $21.24. The firm has a market cap of $903.37 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.49 and a beta of 0.52. Heritage Financial has a fifty-two week low of $16.55 and a fifty-two week high of $27.58.

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.42 by ($0.09). Heritage Financial had a return on equity of 7.01% and a net margin of 12.27%. The business had revenue of $81.65 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $58.17 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.51 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Heritage Financial will post 1.65 EPS for the current year.

Heritage Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 6th were issued a dividend of $0.23 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 6th. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.48%. Heritage Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 85.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Heritage Financial

In other news, EVP Tony Chalfant sold 2,975 shares of the firm'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 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 $533,153.50. This trade represents a 12.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.80% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Heritage Financial

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings in shares of Heritage Financial by 71.4% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,741,058 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $37,903,000 after acquiring an additional 725,257 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Heritage Financial by 4.3% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,934,852 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $34,884,000 after purchasing an additional 80,044 shares during the last quarter. Nwam LLC acquired a new position in Heritage Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,194,000. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC purchased a new position in Heritage Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at about $951,000. Finally, Boston Partners boosted its stake in shares of Heritage Financial by 70.5% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 112,443 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,180,000 after purchasing an additional 46,511 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.