Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) Sets New 12-Month High – Here’s What Happened

Heritage Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:HFWA) shares reached a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $30.11 and last traded at $29.90, with a volume of 21187 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $29.62.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HFWA has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Zacks Research raised Heritage Financial from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Wall Street Zen raised Heritage Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 16th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their target price on Heritage Financial from $34.00 to $32.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Heritage Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $30.50.

Heritage Financial Stock Up 2.2%

The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The company has a market capitalization of $1.25 billion, a PE ratio of 14.82 and a beta of 0.49. The company’s 50 day moving average is $27.65 and its two-hundred day moving average is $26.53.

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $77.92 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $80.31 million. Heritage Financial had a net margin of 20.50% and a return on equity of 8.71%. On average, analysts anticipate that Heritage Financial Corporation will post 2.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Heritage Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 6th. Heritage Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 47.06%.

Insider Transactions at Heritage Financial

In other news, CFO Donald Hinson sold 3,842 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.37, for a total transaction of $108,997.54. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 41,241 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,170,007.17. This represents a 8.52% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.49% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Heritage Financial

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of HFWA. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 worth $47,000 after buying an additional 1,951 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its position in Heritage Financial by 99.1% in the second 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 in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Heritage Financial by 20.8% during the fourth 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 last quarter. CWM LLC raised its position in Heritage Financial by 7.7% during the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 8,249 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $195,000 after purchasing an additional 592 shares during the period. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its holdings in Heritage Financial by 117.1% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 8,457 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $205,000 after buying an additional 4,561 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.30% of the company’s stock.

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.