Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) Sets New 1-Year High - Here's Why

Shares of Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $23.94 and last traded at $23.91, with a volume of 321301 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $23.23.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HFWA has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Heritage Financial from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Stephens raised their price objective on Heritage Financial from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Heritage Financial from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $25.00.

Heritage Financial Trading Up 2.9 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The firm's fifty day moving average is $22.04 and its 200-day moving average is $20.22. The firm has a market cap of $824.90 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.51 and a beta of 0.52.

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA - Get Free Report) last posted 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). The business had revenue of $81.65 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $58.17 million. Heritage Financial had a return on equity of 7.01% and a net margin of 12.27%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.51 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Heritage Financial Co. will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Heritage Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 6th will be given a $0.23 dividend. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.85%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 6th. Heritage Financial's payout ratio is currently 85.19%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Heritage Financial

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Heritage Financial by 133.7% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,374 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 786 shares during the period. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Heritage Financial in the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Heritage Financial during the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. Point72 DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in Heritage Financial during the second quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Heritage Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. 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.

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