Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) Share Price Passes Above Two Hundred Day Moving Average – What’s Next?

Shares of Heritage Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:HFWA) crossed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $25.74 and traded as high as $27.34. Heritage Financial shares last traded at $27.34, with a volume of 195,292 shares.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on HFWA. Weiss Ratings upgraded Heritage Financial from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Zacks Research downgraded Heritage Financial from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Heritage Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their target price on Heritage Financial from $34.00 to $32.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 27th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $30.50.

Heritage Financial Stock Up 1.0%

The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $26.70 and a 200 day simple moving average of $25.74. The firm has a market cap of $1.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.40 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81.

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.02. Heritage Financial had a return on equity of 8.71% and a net margin of 20.50%.The business had revenue of $77.92 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $80.31 million. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Heritage Financial Corporation will post 2.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Heritage Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 6th were issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 6th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.5%. Heritage Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 47.06%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Heritage Financial

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Heritage Financial in the third quarter valued at approximately $11,210,000. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. increased its holdings in shares of Heritage Financial by 163.1% in the fourth quarter. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 607,105 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $14,358,000 after purchasing an additional 376,368 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Heritage Financial by 9.2% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,626,334 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $63,531,000 after purchasing an additional 220,273 shares during the last quarter. Rhino Investment Partners Inc increased its holdings in shares of Heritage Financial by 77.7% in the first quarter. Rhino Investment Partners Inc now owns 330,459 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,592,000 after purchasing an additional 144,515 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC increased its holdings in shares of Heritage Financial by 3.4% in the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,213,473 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $83,550,000 after purchasing an additional 106,308 shares during the last quarter. 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.