Heritage Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:HFWA) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Heritage Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:HFWA) have received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the six brokerages that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $32.50.

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on HFWA. DA Davidson upped their price objective on Heritage Financial from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Heritage Financial in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Heritage Financial from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Wall Street Zen raised Heritage Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 16th. Finally, Stephens increased their price target on shares of Heritage Financial from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Heritage Financial news, Director Jeffrey S. Lyon sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.00, for a total value of $300,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 40,719 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,221,570. The trade was a 19.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Matthew T. Ray sold 3,692 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.10, for a total transaction of $111,129.20. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 22,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $684,323.50. The trade was a 13.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 24,546 shares of company stock worth $729,057 in the last ninety days. 1.49% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Heritage Financial

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its position in Heritage Financial by 4,531.2% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 1,461,510 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $43,290,000 after acquiring an additional 1,429,952 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new stake in Heritage Financial in the second quarter valued at approximately $5,299,000. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in Heritage Financial in the second quarter valued at approximately $5,557,000. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. bought a new stake in Heritage Financial in the second quarter valued at approximately $20,408,000. Finally, Odyssean LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Heritage Financial during the second quarter valued at approximately $945,000. Institutional investors own 78.30% of the company’s stock.

Heritage Financial Price Performance

HFWA stock opened at $28.67 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.83. Heritage Financial has a one year low of $21.32 and a one year high of $31.25. The stock has a market cap of $1.17 billion, a PE ratio of 13.65 and a beta of 0.50. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $29.59 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $27.85.

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $84.12 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $86.30 million. Heritage Financial had a net margin of 20.44% and a return on equity of 8.78%. On average, analysts predict that Heritage Financial will post 2.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Heritage Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 19th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 5th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This is a positive change from Heritage Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 5th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.5%. Heritage Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.62%.

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.