Heritage Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:HFWA) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Heritage Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:HFWA) has received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the six brokerages that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $30.50.

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Stephens upped their target price on shares of Heritage Financial from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Heritage Financial from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Heritage Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 16th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Heritage Financial from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their price target on shares of Heritage Financial from $29.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Rhino Investment Partners Inc increased its stake in shares of Heritage Financial by 77.7% during the first quarter. Rhino Investment Partners Inc now owns 330,459 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,592,000 after acquiring an additional 144,515 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in shares of Heritage Financial by 8.9% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 166,079 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,318,000 after acquiring an additional 13,564 shares during the period. Quantinno Capital Management LP increased its stake in shares of Heritage Financial by 29.9% during the first quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 55,145 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,434,000 after acquiring an additional 12,685 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Heritage Financial by 21.7% during the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 40,326 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,048,000 after acquiring an additional 7,197 shares during the period. Finally, Sei Investments Co. increased its stake in shares of Heritage Financial by 74.4% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 79,334 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,063,000 after acquiring an additional 33,834 shares during the period. 78.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Heritage Financial Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:HFWA opened at $27.18 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $26.52 and a 200-day simple moving average of $25.57. Heritage Financial has a one year low of $21.32 and a one year high of $28.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.32 and a beta of 0.50.

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 net margin of 20.50% and a return on equity of 8.71%. The business had revenue of $77.92 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $80.31 million. On average, analysts predict that Heritage Financial will post 2.39 EPS for the current year.

Heritage Financial Dividend Announcement

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

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.