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

Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA)’s stock price crossed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Friday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $22.68 and traded as high as $23.31. Heritage Financial shares last traded at $23.08, with a volume of 149,212 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on HFWA shares. Stephens lifted their target price on shares of Heritage Financial from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a 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 company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Heritage Financial currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $25.00.

Heritage Financial Stock Down 2.9 %

The business’s 50 day moving average is $25.39 and its 200-day moving average is $22.68. The stock has a market cap of $788.27 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.37 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.82.

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 in the prior year, the business posted $0.51 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Heritage Financial Co. will post 1.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Heritage Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 6th were paid a dividend of $0.23 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 6th. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.99%. Heritage Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 85.19%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Heritage Financial news, EVP Tony Chalfant sold 2,975 shares of Heritage Financial stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.50, for a total transaction of $78,837.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 20,119 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $533,153.50. The trade was a 12.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Heritage Financial

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in shares of Heritage Financial by 71.4% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,741,058 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,903,000 after acquiring an additional 725,257 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Heritage Financial by 4.3% during 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 acquiring an additional 80,044 shares during the last quarter. Nwam LLC acquired a new position in shares of Heritage Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,194,000. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Heritage Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at about $951,000. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its position in shares of Heritage Financial by 105.4% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 73,300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,595,000 after acquiring an additional 37,606 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.30% of the company’s stock.

About Heritage Financial

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.