Heritage Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:HFWA) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Heritage Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:HFWA) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the six ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $30.50.

HFWA has been the topic of several research reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded Heritage Financial from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Zacks Research cut Heritage Financial from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on Heritage Financial from $34.00 to $32.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Heritage Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 16th.

Heritage Financial Stock Up 1.5%

HFWA stock opened at $28.34 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $1.17 billion, a PE ratio of 13.89 and a beta of 0.49. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $27.07 and a 200 day simple moving average of $26.04. Heritage Financial has a 52 week low of $21.32 and a 52 week high of $28.98. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $77.92 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $80.31 million. Heritage Financial had a return on equity of 8.71% and a net margin of 20.50%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Heritage Financial will post 2.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Heritage Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 20th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 6th were issued a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 6th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.4%. Heritage Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 47.06%.

Institutional Trading of Heritage Financial

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HFWA. Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Heritage Financial by 316.9% during the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,651 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 1,255 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Heritage Financial by 27,871.4% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,958 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 1,951 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its holdings in shares of Heritage Financial by 99.1% during the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,875 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $69,000 after buying an additional 1,431 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Heritage Financial by 20.8% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,171 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $122,000 after buying an additional 891 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Heritage Financial by 7.7% during the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 8,249 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $195,000 after buying an additional 592 shares in the last quarter. 78.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Heritage Financial

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.