Brokerages Set Heritage Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:HFWA) Price Target at $31.25

Heritage Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:HFWA) has earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the six analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $31.25.

Several equities analysts have weighed in on HFWA shares. Stephens lifted their target price on Heritage Financial from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Heritage Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, February 28th. DA Davidson upped their price objective on shares of Heritage Financial from $29.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Heritage Financial from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Heritage Financial from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, 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 owned 19,870 shares in the company, valued at approximately $549,405.50. This represents a 19.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Kelli Ann Wilson sold 1,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.48, for a total transaction of $50,312.00. Following the transaction, 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 disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 8,368 shares of company stock valued at $226,740 in the last three months. Insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Heritage Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at $11,210,000. Algebris UK Ltd. bought a new position in Heritage Financial during the third quarter valued at about $10,775,000. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. lifted its position in shares of Heritage Financial by 163.1% in the fourth quarter. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 607,105 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $14,358,000 after buying an additional 376,368 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Heritage Financial by 9.2% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,626,334 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $63,531,000 after acquiring an additional 220,273 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Heritage Financial by 437.3% during the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 107,482 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,615,000 after acquiring an additional 87,479 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.30% of the company’s stock.

Heritage Financial Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:HFWA opened at $26.35 on Monday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $26.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $24.61. The company has a market cap of $1.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.44 and a beta of 0.51. Heritage Financial has a 12-month low of $19.84 and a 12-month high of $28.98. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05.

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

Heritage Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 11th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 28th were paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, January 28th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.6%. Heritage Financial’s payout ratio is 48.98%.

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.