Stephens Raises Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) Price Target to $26.00

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) had its price target upped by equities researchers at Stephens from $24.00 to $26.00 in a note issued to investors on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “equal weight” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Stephens’ target price would indicate a potential upside of 12.51% from the company’s current price.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Heritage Financial from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Heritage Financial from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $25.00.

Heritage Financial Price Performance

Heritage Financial stock opened at $23.11 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $22.00 and a 200-day simple moving average of $20.08. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $797.20 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.40 and a beta of 0.53. Heritage Financial has a 52-week low of $15.94 and a 52-week high of $23.82.

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.42 by ($0.09). Heritage Financial had a return on equity of 7.95% and a net margin of 14.59%. The company had revenue of $81.65 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $58.17 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.51 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Heritage Financial will post 1.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Heritage Financial

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Jennison Associates LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Heritage Financial during the 1st quarter worth approximately $14,612,000. US Bancorp DE lifted its holdings in shares of Heritage Financial by 212.4% in the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 206,776 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,009,000 after purchasing an additional 140,592 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Heritage Financial by 4.3% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,934,852 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,884,000 after purchasing an additional 80,044 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new position in Heritage Financial during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,602,000. Finally, Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in Heritage Financial in the second quarter valued at approximately $951,000. 78.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.