Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) Stock Price Passes Above 200-Day Moving Average – Should You Sell?

Heritage Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:HFWA) shares passed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Monday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $24.88 and traded as high as $27.32. Heritage Financial shares last traded at $27.22, with a volume of 186,773 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on HFWA shares. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of Heritage Financial from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Heritage Financial from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. DA Davidson raised their price target on shares of Heritage Financial from $29.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Stephens lifted their price target on shares of Heritage Financial from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Heritage Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, April 4th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $31.00.

Heritage Financial Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The company’s fifty day moving average is $26.53 and its two-hundred day moving average is $24.90. The stock has a market cap of $1.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.82 and a beta of 0.49.

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

Heritage Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 11th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 28th were paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, January 28th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.5%. Heritage Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.98%.

Insider Activity at Heritage Financial

In other Heritage Financial news, EVP Tony Chalfant sold 4,668 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.65, for a total transaction of $129,070.20. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 19,870 shares in the company, valued at $549,405.50. This represents a 19.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Frederick B. Rivera sold 1,800 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.31, for a total transaction of $47,358.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 4,972 shares in the company, valued at $130,813.32. This represents a 26.58% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 8,368 shares of company stock worth $226,740 in the last three months. 1.49% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Heritage Financial

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HFWA. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in Heritage Financial by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 264,519 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,256,000 after buying an additional 7,292 shares during the period. EP Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Heritage Financial during the fourth quarter worth $385,000. Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in shares of Heritage Financial by 10.7% during the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 152,515 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,607,000 after acquiring an additional 14,780 shares during the period. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL acquired a new stake in shares of Heritage Financial in the fourth quarter valued at $325,000. Finally, Odyssean LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Heritage Financial in the fourth quarter valued at $572,000. 78.30% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.