Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) Rating Increased to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report published on Saturday morning.

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on HFWA. Stephens boosted their price target on Heritage Financial from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Zacks Research lowered Heritage Financial from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. DA Davidson boosted their price target on Heritage Financial from $29.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on Heritage Financial from $34.00 to $32.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Heritage Financial from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $30.50.

Heritage Financial Stock Down 1.7%

NASDAQ:HFWA opened at $26.03 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.76 and a beta of 0.50. Heritage Financial has a twelve month low of $21.32 and a twelve month high of $28.98. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $26.37 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $25.43. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $77.92 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $80.31 million. Heritage Financial had a return on equity of 8.71% and a net margin of 20.50%. Equities research analysts expect that Heritage Financial will post 2.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Heritage Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 20th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 6th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.7%. Heritage Financial’s payout ratio is presently 47.06%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in HFWA. Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new position in shares of Heritage Financial during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $11,210,000. Algebris UK Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Heritage Financial during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $10,775,000. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. increased its holdings in shares of Heritage Financial by 163.1% during the 4th quarter. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 607,105 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $14,358,000 after acquiring an additional 376,368 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Heritage Financial by 9.2% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,626,334 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $63,531,000 after acquiring an additional 220,273 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in Heritage Financial by 3.4% in the 1st 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 period. 78.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.