Brokerages Set Heritage Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:HFWA) PT at $29.33

Shares of Heritage Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:HFWA) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the five research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $29.3333.

HFWA has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Zacks Research lowered shares of Heritage Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. DA Davidson set a $29.00 target price on Heritage Financial in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Heritage Financial from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Heritage Financial in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Heritage Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 15th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, President Bryan Mcdonald bought 19,106 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 20th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $22.32 per share, for a total transaction of $426,445.92. Following the purchase, the president owned 31,363 shares in the company, valued at $700,022.16. This trade represents a 155.88% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in shares of Heritage Financial by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,452 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $301,000 after acquiring an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its holdings in Heritage Financial by 4.6% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 20,060 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $488,000 after purchasing an additional 881 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Heritage Financial by 20.8% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,171 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $122,000 after purchasing an additional 891 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Heritage Financial by 2.7% during the third quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 35,891 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $868,000 after purchasing an additional 960 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Heritage Financial by 7.2% during the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 15,700 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $380,000 after purchasing an additional 1,052 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 78.30% of the company’s stock.

Heritage Financial Price Performance

HFWA stock opened at $25.56 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $868.02 million, a P/E ratio of 15.49 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.84. Heritage Financial has a 1 year low of $19.84 and a 1 year high of $26.92. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $23.97 and a 200-day simple moving average of $23.94.

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56. The firm had revenue of $65.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $65.25 million. Heritage Financial had a return on equity of 8.21% and a net margin of 17.27%. On average, equities analysts predict that Heritage Financial will post 2.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Heritage Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 19th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 5th were issued a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 5th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.8%. Heritage Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 58.18%.

About Heritage Financial

Heritage Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:HFWA) is a bank holding company headquartered in Spokane, Washington. Through its primary subsidiary, Heritage Bank, the company provides a comprehensive range of banking and financial services to both individual and commercial clients. Heritage Bank’s offerings encompass deposit products, lending solutions, treasury and cash management services, mortgage banking, and wealth management, positioning the organization as a full-service community bank.

The company’s lending portfolio includes commercial real estate loans, agricultural loans, small business administration (SBA) loans, construction and development financing, and a variety of consumer mortgage products.