Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the four ratings firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $25.00.

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Stephens boosted their price target on 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 upped their target price on Heritage Financial from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th.

Heritage Financial Trading Down 1.3 %

Heritage Financial stock opened at $26.45 on Friday. Heritage Financial has a 12 month low of $16.55 and a 12 month high of $27.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The stock has a market cap of $903.27 million, a P/E ratio of 24.49 and a beta of 0.52. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $23.56 and its 200-day simple moving average is $21.22.

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.33 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 firm had revenue of $81.65 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $58.17 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.51 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Heritage Financial will post 1.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Heritage Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 6th were issued a dividend of $0.23 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 6th. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.48%. Heritage Financial’s payout ratio is 85.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Heritage Financial news, EVP Tony Chalfant sold 2,975 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 in the company, valued at approximately $533,153.50. This trade represents a 12.88 % decrease in their position. The sale 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 company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of HFWA. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Heritage Financial by 133.7% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,374 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 786 shares during the period. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Heritage Financial during the second quarter valued at $25,000. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Heritage Financial in the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. Point72 DIFC Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Heritage Financial during the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Heritage Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. 78.30% of the stock is currently 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.