Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) Share Price Passes Above Two Hundred Day Moving Average – Here’s What Happened

Heritage Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:HFWA) passed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Monday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $24.70 and traded as high as $25.82. Heritage Financial shares last traded at $25.28, with a volume of 427,891 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Stephens upped their target price on Heritage Financial from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Heritage Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 25th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Heritage Financial from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Heritage Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, February 28th. Finally, DA Davidson lifted their target price on shares of Heritage Financial from $29.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $31.25.

Heritage Financial Trading Up 2.4%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.90 and a beta of 0.51. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $26.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $24.70.

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 8.61% and a net margin of 20.10%.The business had revenue of $66.35 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $65.95 million. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Heritage Financial Corporation will post 2.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Heritage Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 11th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 28th were paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, January 28th. Heritage Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.98%.

Insider Transactions at Heritage Financial

In other Heritage Financial news, Director Frederick B. Rivera sold 1,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.31, for a total transaction of $47,358.00. Following the sale, the director 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Tony Chalfant sold 4,668 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.65, for a total value of $129,070.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 19,870 shares in the company, valued at approximately $549,405.50. This represents a 19.02% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 8,368 shares of company stock valued at $226,740. 1.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Heritage Financial

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in HFWA. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its holdings in Heritage Financial by 4.6% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 20,060 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $488,000 after purchasing an additional 881 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its position in shares of Heritage Financial by 4.2% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 123,798 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,012,000 after buying an additional 4,947 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its position in shares of Heritage Financial by 7.4% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 78,130 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,901,000 after buying an additional 5,417 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Heritage Financial by 437.3% in the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 107,482 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,615,000 after buying an additional 87,479 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Heritage Financial by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 828,029 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $19,741,000 after buying an additional 3,447 shares during the period. 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 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.