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

Shares of Heritage Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:HFWA) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $32.50.

HFWA has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Heritage Financial in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. DA Davidson raised their price target on Heritage Financial from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Stephens boosted their price objective on Heritage Financial from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Zacks Research raised Heritage Financial from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased 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.

Heritage Financial Trading Up 0.3%

NASDAQ:HFWA opened at $28.09 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $1.15 billion, a PE ratio of 13.38 and a beta of 0.48. Heritage Financial has a 12 month low of $21.32 and a 12 month high of $31.25. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $29.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $27.95.

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

Heritage Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 19th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 5th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This is an increase 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 yield of 3.6%. Heritage Financial’s payout ratio is 47.62%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Matthew T. Ray sold 3,692 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.10, for a total transaction of $111,129.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 22,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $684,323.50. This trade represents a 13.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Jeffrey S. Lyon sold 10,000 shares of Heritage Financial stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.00, for a total transaction of $300,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 40,719 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,221,570. This represents a 19.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 22,004 shares of company stock valued at $657,200. Company insiders own 1.49% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund raised its stake in Heritage Financial by 2.9% in the first quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 18,381 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $478,000 after buying an additional 514 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Heritage Financial by 12.2% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 6,519 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $193,000 after purchasing an additional 710 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank grew its position in Heritage Financial by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 67,168 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,746,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP acquired a new position in Heritage Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Finally, Keybank National Association OH raised its holdings in shares of Heritage Financial by 2.4% in the first quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 66,614 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,732,000 after buying an additional 1,566 shares during the last quarter. 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 Olympia, Washington. Through its principal subsidiary, Heritage Bank, the company provides a range of banking and financial services to businesses, individuals, and organizations in communities across Washington and Oregon.

Heritage Bank’s offerings include commercial and industrial lending, commercial real estate and construction loans, residential real estate financing, consumer loans, deposit accounts, cash-management services, online and mobile banking, and other treasury-management solutions.