Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA) has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the four ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $23.50.

A number of research firms recently weighed in on HFWA. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Heritage Financial from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Heritage Financial from $23.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HFWA. Panagora Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Heritage Financial by 72.3% during the fourth quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 133,523 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,856,000 after purchasing an additional 56,036 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC acquired a new stake in Heritage Financial during the 1st quarter worth approximately $14,612,000. US Bancorp DE lifted its stake in Heritage Financial by 212.4% in the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 206,776 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,009,000 after buying an additional 140,592 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners boosted its holdings in shares of Heritage Financial by 70.5% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 112,443 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,180,000 after buying an additional 46,511 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Heritage Financial by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,733,722 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,085,000 after acquiring an additional 92,319 shares in the last quarter. 78.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Heritage Financial Stock Down 2.2 %

Shares of HFWA opened at $22.28 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $21.94 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $19.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $772.89 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.75 and a beta of 0.53. Heritage Financial has a 52 week low of $15.50 and a 52 week high of $23.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81.

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.04. Heritage Financial had a return on equity of 7.95% and a net margin of 14.59%. The firm had revenue of $56.36 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $58.27 million. On average, analysts predict that Heritage Financial will post 1.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Heritage Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 21st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 7th were paid a $0.23 dividend. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 7th. Heritage Financial’s payout ratio is presently 69.17%.

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.