Zacks Research Downgrades Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) to Strong Sell

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) was downgraded by investment analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, Zacks reports.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Heritage Financial from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. DA Davidson raised their price target on Heritage Financial from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Stephens increased their target price on Heritage Financial from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Capital One Financial set a $33.00 target price on Heritage Financial in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Heritage Financial in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $32.67.

Heritage Financial Stock Performance

NASDAQ:HFWA opened at $28.25 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $29.22 and its two-hundred day moving average is $28.02. Heritage Financial has a 1-year low of $21.32 and a 1-year high of $31.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.45 and a beta of 0.48.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Heritage Financial news, Director Frederick B. Rivera sold 1,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.57, for a total transaction of $37,141.00. Following the sale, the director owned 5,890 shares in the company, valued at $168,277.30. This represents a 18.08% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Matthew T. Ray sold 3,692 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.10, for a total value of $111,129.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 22,735 shares in the company, valued at $684,323.50. This represents a 13.97% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 22,004 shares of company stock valued at $657,200. 1.49% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Heritage Financial

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Tidal Investments LLC purchased a new position in Heritage Financial in the second quarter worth approximately $419,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC acquired a new position in Heritage Financial during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $68,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Heritage Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $214,000. Arizona State Retirement System increased its position in shares of Heritage Financial by 21.7% in the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 11,349 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $336,000 after purchasing an additional 2,022 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Heritage Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at $5,299,000. 78.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.