Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) Rating Lowered to “Sell” at Wall Street Zen

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) was downgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report issued on Saturday.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Zacks Research cut Heritage Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 25th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Heritage Financial in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. DA Davidson boosted their price target on Heritage Financial from $29.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Heritage Financial from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Stephens increased their price objective on shares of Heritage Financial from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.25.

Heritage Financial Stock Performance

HFWA stock opened at $26.41 on Friday. Heritage Financial has a one year low of $19.84 and a one year high of $28.98. The firm has a market cap of $896.80 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.47 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.83. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $25.96 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $24.54.

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.09. Heritage Financial had a net margin of 20.10% and a return on equity of 8.61%. The company had revenue of $66.35 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $65.95 million. On average, equities analysts forecast that Heritage Financial will post 2.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Kelli Ann Wilson sold 1,900 shares of Heritage Financial stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.48, for a total value of $50,312.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 3,778 shares in the company, valued at approximately $100,041.44. The trade was a 33.46% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Frederick B. Rivera sold 1,800 shares of Heritage Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.31, for a total value of $47,358.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 4,972 shares in the company, valued at $130,813.32. This represents a 26.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 8,368 shares of company stock valued at $226,740. 1.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Heritage Financial

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in Heritage Financial by 3.7% during the third quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,452 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $301,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC boosted its holdings in Heritage Financial by 7.7% in the 4th 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 last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Heritage Financial by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 20,060 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $488,000 after buying an additional 881 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Heritage Financial by 20.8% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,171 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $122,000 after buying an additional 891 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Heritage Financial by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 35,891 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $868,000 after buying an additional 960 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.