Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA) Receives $25.00 Average Price Target from Brokerages

Shares of Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA) have been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the four brokerages that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $25.00.

Several research firms recently weighed in on HFWA. Stephens upped their price target on shares of Heritage Financial from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Heritage Financial from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Heritage Financial from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Heritage Financial news, EVP Tony Chalfant sold 2,975 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.50, for a total value of $78,837.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 20,119 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $533,153.50. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Heritage Financial

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Heritage Financial by 39.0% during the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 27,308 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $569,000 after buying an additional 7,664 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC purchased a new position in shares of Heritage Financial in the 1st quarter worth about $14,612,000. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in shares of Heritage Financial by 8.2% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 99,626 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,932,000 after purchasing an additional 7,525 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE grew its holdings in shares of Heritage Financial by 212.4% during the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 206,776 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,009,000 after purchasing an additional 140,592 shares during the period. Finally, State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System increased its position in Heritage Financial by 60.7% during the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 15,919 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $341,000 after purchasing an additional 6,010 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.30% of the company’s stock.

Heritage Financial Price Performance

Shares of HFWA opened at $26.26 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $22.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $20.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $905.86 million, a PE ratio of 24.31 and a beta of 0.52. Heritage Financial has a 1-year low of $16.38 and a 1-year high of $27.43.

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.42 by ($0.09). Heritage Financial had a net margin of 12.27% and a return on equity of 7.01%. The company had revenue of $81.65 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $58.17 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.51 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Heritage Financial will post 1.65 EPS for the current year.

Heritage Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 6th will be given a dividend of $0.23 per share. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 6th. Heritage Financial’s payout ratio is currently 85.19%.

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.