Brokerages Set Heritage Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:HFWA) Target Price at $31.25

Heritage Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:HFWA) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the six research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $31.25.

HFWA has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Heritage Financial in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Zacks Research cut Heritage Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Heritage Financial from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. DA Davidson increased their target price on Heritage Financial from $29.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Heritage Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 15th.

Insider Transactions at Heritage Financial

In other news, Director Frederick B. Rivera sold 1,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.31, for a total transaction of $47,358.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 4,972 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $130,813.32. This represents a 26.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, President Bryan Mcdonald purchased 19,106 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 20th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $22.32 per share, for a total transaction of $426,445.92. Following the completion of the purchase, the president owned 31,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $700,022.16. This represents a 155.88% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders own 1.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Heritage Financial by 316.9% in the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,651 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 1,255 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Heritage Financial by 27,871.4% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,958 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 1,951 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its stake in shares of Heritage Financial by 99.1% in the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,875 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $69,000 after acquiring an additional 1,431 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Heritage Financial by 20.8% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,171 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $122,000 after acquiring an additional 891 shares during the period. Finally, CWM LLC boosted its position in shares of Heritage Financial by 100.5% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 7,657 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $185,000 after acquiring an additional 3,838 shares during the last quarter. 78.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Heritage Financial Stock Down 0.2%

Heritage Financial stock opened at $28.12 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $954.96 million, a PE ratio of 14.35 and a beta of 0.53. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $25.16 and a 200-day simple moving average of $24.08. Heritage Financial has a 12 month low of $19.84 and a 12 month high of $28.44.

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $66.35 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $65.95 million. Heritage Financial had a net margin of 20.10% and a return on equity of 8.61%. On average, analysts anticipate that Heritage Financial will post 2.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Heritage Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 11th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 28th. Heritage Financial’s payout ratio is 48.98%.

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.