Shares of Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA - Get Free Report) have earned an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the four ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $25.00.
A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on HFWA shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Heritage Financial from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Stephens lifted their target price on Heritage Financial from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Heritage Financial from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, October 28th.
Get Our Latest Research Report on Heritage Financial
Shares of NASDAQ HFWA opened at $23.91 on Wednesday. Heritage Financial has a twelve month low of $16.38 and a twelve month high of $23.94. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $22.04 and a 200-day simple moving average of $20.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $824.90 million, a PE ratio of 22.14 and a beta of 0.52.
Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.33 earnings per share 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 analyst estimates of $58.17 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.51 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Heritage Financial will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current year.
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 6th will be issued a $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 6th. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.85%. Heritage Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 85.19%.
A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of HFWA. Jennison Associates LLC purchased a new stake in Heritage Financial during the 1st quarter worth about $14,612,000. US Bancorp DE lifted its holdings in Heritage Financial by 212.4% during the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 206,776 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $4,009,000 after buying an additional 140,592 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Heritage Financial by 4.3% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,934,852 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $34,884,000 after buying an additional 80,044 shares during the last quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in Heritage Financial during the 2nd quarter worth about $951,000. Finally, Boston Partners lifted its holdings in Heritage Financial by 70.5% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 112,443 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,180,000 after buying an additional 46,511 shares during the last quarter. 78.30% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
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.
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