Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) Upgraded by Wall Street Zen to Hold Rating

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Saturday morning.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on HFWA. Stephens lifted their target price on Heritage Financial from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Heritage Financial from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on shares of Heritage Financial from $29.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their price objective on shares of Heritage Financial from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $31.00.

Heritage Financial Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ HFWA opened at $26.10 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.32 and a beta of 0.49. The business’s 50 day moving average is $26.37 and its 200-day moving average is $24.77. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. Heritage Financial has a 1-year low of $19.84 and a 1-year high of $28.98.

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.09. Heritage Financial had a return on equity of 8.61% and a net margin of 20.10%.The business had revenue of $66.35 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $65.95 million. Equities research analysts predict that Heritage Financial will post 2.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Heritage Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 11th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 28th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, January 28th. Heritage Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.98%.

Insider Transactions at Heritage Financial

In related news, Director Frederick B. Rivera sold 1,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.31, for a total transaction of $47,358.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 4,972 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $130,813.32. This represents a 26.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Tony Chalfant sold 4,668 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.65, for a total transaction of $129,070.20. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 19,870 shares in the company, valued at $549,405.50. The trade was a 19.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 8,368 shares of company stock valued at $226,740. 1.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Heritage Financial

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in shares of Heritage Financial by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,452 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $301,000 after acquiring an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC raised its position in Heritage Financial by 7.7% during the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 8,249 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $195,000 after purchasing an additional 592 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its stake in Heritage Financial by 4.6% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 20,060 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $488,000 after purchasing an additional 881 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Heritage Financial by 20.8% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,171 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $122,000 after purchasing an additional 891 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Heritage Financial by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 35,891 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $868,000 after purchasing an additional 960 shares in the last quarter. 78.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Heritage Financial Company Profile

Heritage Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:HFWA) is a bank holding company headquartered in Spokane, Washington. Through its primary subsidiary, Heritage Bank, the company provides a comprehensive range of banking and financial services to both individual and commercial clients. Heritage Bank’s offerings encompass deposit products, lending solutions, treasury and cash management services, mortgage banking, and wealth management, positioning the organization as a full-service community bank.

The company’s lending portfolio includes commercial real estate loans, agricultural loans, small business administration (SBA) loans, construction and development financing, and a variety of consumer mortgage products.