Piper Sandler Cuts Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) Price Target to $34.00

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) had its price target cut by Piper Sandler from $35.00 to $34.00 in a research report report published on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on HFWA. DA Davidson upped their price objective on Heritage Financial from $29.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Weiss Ratings raised Heritage Financial from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Wall Street Zen lowered Heritage Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 28th. Finally, Stephens raised their price objective on Heritage Financial from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $31.00.

Heritage Financial Stock Performance

Heritage Financial stock opened at $26.10 on Thursday. Heritage Financial has a 1-year low of $19.84 and a 1-year high of $28.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $26.37 and a 200-day simple moving average of $24.77. The stock has a market cap of $1.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.32 and a beta of 0.49.

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

Heritage Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 11th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 28th were paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, January 28th. Heritage Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.98%.

Insider Activity at Heritage Financial

In other Heritage Financial news, Director Frederick B. Rivera sold 1,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.31, for a total value of $47,358.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 4,972 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $130,813.32. This trade represents a 26.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kelli Ann Wilson sold 1,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.48, for a total value of $50,312.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 3,778 shares in the company, valued at approximately $100,041.44. This represents a 33.46% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 8,368 shares of company stock worth $226,740. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Heritage Financial

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Heritage Financial by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 264,519 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,256,000 after buying an additional 7,292 shares during the period. EP Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Heritage Financial in the 4th quarter worth approximately $385,000. Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in Heritage Financial by 10.7% in the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 152,515 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,607,000 after acquiring an additional 14,780 shares in the last quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL acquired a new stake in Heritage Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $325,000. Finally, Odyssean LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Heritage Financial during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $572,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.30% of the company’s stock.

Heritage Financial Company Profile

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.