Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) Hits New 12-Month High - Here's Why

Key Points

• Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) hit a new 52-week high, trading as high as $30.72 and last changing hands near $30.85, up about 2.6% on the day.
• Recent analyst updates were mixed but generally supportive: Piper Sandler cut its price target to $32 while keeping an overweight rating, and the overall consensus remains a Moderate Buy with an average target of $30.50.
• The company recently beat quarterly EPS estimates, paid a $0.24 quarterly dividend yielding about 3.1%, and continues to see strong institutional ownership at 78.3%.

Heritage Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:HFWA - Get Free Report)'s share price hit a new 52-week high on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $30.72 and last traded at $30.8460, with a volume of 14735 shares. The stock had previously closed at $30.18.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on HFWA. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on Heritage Financial from $34.00 to $32.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Wall Street Zen raised Heritage Financial from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 16th. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Heritage Financial in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Heritage Financial from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $30.50.

Heritage Financial Trading Up 2.6%

The company has a market cap of $1.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.17 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $28.15 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $26.88.

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $77.92 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $80.31 million. Heritage Financial had a return on equity of 8.71% and a net margin of 20.50%. On average, analysts predict that Heritage Financial Corporation will post 2.39 EPS for the current year.

Heritage Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 6th were paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 6th. Heritage Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 47.06%.

Insider Activity at Heritage Financial

In related news, CFO Donald Hinson sold 3,842 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.37, for a total transaction of $108,997.54. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 41,241 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,170,007.17. The trade was a 8.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.49% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Heritage Financial

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of HFWA. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund raised its holdings in Heritage Financial by 2.9% in the first quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 18,381 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $478,000 after purchasing an additional 514 shares during the period. CWM LLC grew its holdings in shares of Heritage Financial by 7.7% in the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 8,249 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $195,000 after buying an additional 592 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Heritage Financial by 12.2% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 6,519 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $193,000 after buying an additional 710 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its position in shares of Heritage Financial by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 20,060 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $488,000 after buying an additional 881 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank increased its position in shares of Heritage Financial by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 67,168 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,746,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. 78.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Heritage Financial Company Profile

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.

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