Heritage Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:HFWA) Shareholders to Collect $0.25 Quarterly Dividend

Key Points

• Heritage Financial declared a quarterly dividend of $0.25 per share, payable November 18 to shareholders of record on November 4. The annualized dividend is $1.00 per share, representing a 3.5% yield.
• The dividend appears well covered, with a current payout ratio of 44.2%; analysts expect a future payout ratio of about 38.0% based on projected earnings.
• Heritage Financial beat quarterly EPS estimates, reporting $0.55 versus the $0.50 consensus. Analysts have a consensus “Hold” rating and an average price target of $32.67.

Heritage Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:HFWA - Get Free Report) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, October 21st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share by the financial services provider on Wednesday, November 18th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 4th.

Heritage Financial has a payout ratio of 44.2% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Heritage Financial to earn $2.63 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 38.0%.

Heritage Financial Stock Performance

HFWA traded up $0.84 on Thursday, hitting $28.52. The company had a trading volume of 475,288 shares, compared to its average volume of 327,802. The stock has a market cap of $1.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.58 and a beta of 0.50. 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 company's fifty day moving average price is $28.33 and its 200 day moving average price is $28.33. Heritage Financial has a 1-year low of $21.32 and a 1-year high of $31.25.

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.05. Heritage Financial had a net margin of 20.44% and a return on equity of 8.78%. Equities analysts predict that Heritage Financial will post 2.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Heritage Financial in a research note on Friday, October 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Heritage Financial from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. DA Davidson raised their price target on shares of Heritage Financial from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Capital One Financial set a $33.00 price objective on Heritage Financial in a report on Tuesday, September 22nd. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Heritage Financial from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 23rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Heritage Financial has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $32.67.

About Heritage Financial

Heritage Financial Corporation NASDAQ: HFWA is a bank holding company headquartered in Olympia, Washington. The company operates primarily through Heritage Bank, a community-focused financial institution serving businesses, individuals and organizations in Washington and Oregon.

Heritage Bank provides commercial and residential real estate lending, business and consumer loans, deposit accounts, cash-management and treasury services, online and mobile banking, and other traditional banking products.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.