Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) Sets New 1-Year High – Here’s Why

Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $27.58 and last traded at $27.15, with a volume of 38727 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $26.50.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on HFWA shares. 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 note on Tuesday, October 29th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Heritage Financial from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $25.00.

Heritage Financial Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $914.54 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.54 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $23.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $20.98.

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by ($0.09). Heritage Financial had a return on equity of 7.01% and a net margin of 12.27%. The company had revenue of $81.65 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $58.17 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.51 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Heritage Financial Co. will post 1.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Heritage Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 6th were paid a $0.23 dividend. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.44%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 6th. Heritage Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 85.19%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Heritage Financial news, EVP Tony Chalfant sold 2,975 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.50, for a total value of $78,837.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 20,119 shares in the company, valued at approximately $533,153.50. This represents a 12.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.68% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Heritage Financial

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Boston Partners boosted its holdings in Heritage Financial by 70.5% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 112,443 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,180,000 after purchasing an additional 46,511 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Heritage Financial by 4.3% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,934,852 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,884,000 after acquiring an additional 80,044 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC increased its holdings 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 worth $37,903,000 after purchasing an additional 725,257 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Heritage Financial by 43.7% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,975 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 601 shares during the period. Finally, Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Heritage Financial during the second quarter worth about $27,000. 78.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.