Heritage Financial (HFWA) Competitors

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) and Banner (NASDAQ:BANR) are both finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, risk, earnings, valuation, media sentiment, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership and profitability.

Do analysts rate HFWA or BANR?

Heritage Financial currently has a consensus target price of $27.67, suggesting a potential upside of 11.47%. Banner has a consensus target price of $70.83, suggesting a potential upside of 6.18%. Given Heritage Financial's higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Heritage Financial is more favorable than Banner.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Heritage Financial	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.33
Banner	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	4 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.67

Does the media favor HFWA or BANR?

In the previous week, Banner had 8 more articles in the media than Heritage Financial. MarketBeat recorded 10 mentions for Banner and 2 mentions for Heritage Financial. Heritage Financial's average media sentiment score of 0.63 beat Banner's score of 0.55 indicating that Heritage Financial is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Heritage Financial	0 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Banner	4 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	4 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Is HFWA or BANR a better dividend stock?

Heritage Financial pays an annual dividend of $0.96 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.9%. Banner pays an annual dividend of $1.92 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.9%. Heritage Financial pays out 64.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Banner pays out 37.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Heritage Financial has raised its dividend for 14 consecutive years. Heritage Financial is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Do institutionals & insiders have more ownership in HFWA or BANR?

78.3% of Heritage Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 87.3% of Banner shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.9% of Heritage Financial shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 1.6% of Banner shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Which has more volatility and risk, HFWA or BANR?

Heritage Financial has a beta of 0.54, meaning that its stock price is 46% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Banner has a beta of 0.89, meaning that its stock price is 11% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is HFWA or BANR more profitable?

Banner has a net margin of 20.77% compared to Heritage Financial's net margin of 15.73%. Banner's return on equity of 9.95% beat Heritage Financial's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Heritage Financial	15.73%	7.12%	0.87%
Banner	20.77%	9.95%	1.10%

Which has preferable valuation and earnings, HFWA or BANR?

Banner has higher revenue and earnings than Heritage Financial. Banner is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Heritage Financial, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Heritage Financial	$317.18M	2.67	$43.26M	$1.48	16.77
Banner	$832.99M	2.77	$168.90M	$5.09	13.11

Summary

Banner beats Heritage Financial on 13 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.