Heritage Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:HFWA) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Hold" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Heritage Financial Corporation has received a consensus rating of "Hold" from five research firms, with an average price target of $28.50 over the next twelve months.
• Institutional investors significantly increased their stakes, with Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio reportedly raising its stake by 475.6%.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.24, representing an annualized yield of 3.9% and a payout ratio of 67.13%.

Shares of Heritage Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:HFWA - Get Free Report) have received a consensus rating of "Hold" from the five research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $28.50.

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Wall Street Zen downgraded Heritage Financial from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 26th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Heritage Financial in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Heritage Financial from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, DA Davidson set a $29.00 target price on Heritage Financial in a research report on Monday.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Heritage Financial

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of HFWA. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Heritage Financial by 27,871.4% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,958 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 1,951 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its stake in shares of Heritage Financial by 99.1% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,875 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $69,000 after buying an additional 1,431 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Heritage Financial by 45.3% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,972 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $72,000 after buying an additional 927 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC grew its stake in shares of Heritage Financial by 14.8% in the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,042 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $98,000 after buying an additional 520 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio grew its stake in shares of Heritage Financial by 475.6% in the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 3,989 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $98,000 after buying an additional 3,296 shares in the last quarter. 78.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Heritage Financial Price Performance

HFWA traded up $0.30 during trading on Friday, hitting $24.34. The company's stock had a trading volume of 159,592 shares, compared to its average volume of 195,515. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Heritage Financial has a twelve month low of $19.84 and a twelve month high of $27.58. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $23.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $23.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $826.34 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.02 and a beta of 0.53.

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.53 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $56.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $63.54 million. Heritage Financial had a return on equity of 7.34% and a net margin of 15.22%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Heritage Financial will post 2.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Heritage Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 6th were given a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 6th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.9%. Heritage Financial's payout ratio is currently 67.13%.

Heritage Financial Company Profile

Heritage Financial Corporation operates as the bank holding company for Heritage Bank that provides various financial services to small and medium sized businesses and individuals in the United States. It accepts various deposit products, such as noninterest demand deposits, interest bearing demand deposits, money market accounts, savings accounts, personal checking accounts, and certificates of deposit.

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