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

Key Points

• Heritage Financial was downgraded from a "hold" to a "sell" rating by Wall Street Zen, indicating a significant shift in analyst sentiment.
• Research analysts Keefe, Bruyette & Woods and Piper Sandler updated their target prices for Heritage Financial from $27.00 to $26.00 and from $34.00 to $31.00, respectively, reflecting a cautious outlook on the company's performance.
• Despite having a positive earnings report, with $0.53 earnings per share surpassing estimates, Heritage Financial's revenue fell short of expectations at $56.50 million compared to the projected $63.54 million.

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA - Free Report) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note published on Saturday.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on HFWA. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on Heritage Financial from $34.00 to $31.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on Heritage Financial from $27.00 to $26.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 28th.

Heritage Financial Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of HFWA stock traded down $0.13 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $23.36. The stock had a trading volume of 122,124 shares, compared to its average volume of 143,654. Heritage Financial has a 12-month low of $19.84 and a 12-month high of $27.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $796.81 million, a P/E ratio of 16.34 and a beta of 0.54. The firm's 50-day moving average is $23.93 and its two-hundred day moving average is $23.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.84.

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

Heritage Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 6th. Heritage Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 67.13%.

Institutional Trading of Heritage Financial

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Heritage Financial by 15,727.7% in the first quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,480,997 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $36,033,000 after purchasing an additional 1,471,640 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC raised its position in Heritage Financial by 24.7% in the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,752,114 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $66,959,000 after purchasing an additional 545,348 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Heritage Financial by 112.5% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 369,429 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $9,051,000 after buying an additional 195,541 shares in the last quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Heritage Financial in the fourth quarter valued at $3,755,000. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Heritage Financial by 357.0% in the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 143,913 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,526,000 after buying an additional 112,419 shares in the last quarter. 78.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Heritage Financial

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.