Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) Issues Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.03 EPS

Key Points

• Heritage Financial reported earnings of $0.53 EPS, surpassing estimates of $0.50 by $0.03, while revenue was $56.50 million, below the expected $63.54 million.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.24, translating to an annualized yield of 4.10%.
• A number of institutional investors have increased their stakes in Heritage Financial, with hedge funds owning 78.30% of the company's stock.

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA - Get Free Report) announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The financial services provider reported $0.53 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.03, Zacks reports. The firm had revenue of $56.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $63.54 million. Heritage Financial had a return on equity of 7.34% and a net margin of 15.22%.

Heritage Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:HFWA traded down $0.63 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $22.73. 184,338 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 139,793. The stock has a market capitalization of $775.32 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.90 and a beta of 0.54. The business's fifty day moving average is $23.92 and its 200-day moving average is $23.82. Heritage Financial has a one year low of $19.84 and a one year high of $27.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Heritage Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 4.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 6th. Heritage Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 67.13%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HFWA has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on Heritage Financial from $34.00 to $31.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 28th. Wall Street Zen lowered Heritage Financial from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on Heritage Financial from $27.00 to $26.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 28th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Heritage Financial

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in shares of Heritage Financial by 4.2% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 123,798 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,012,000 after purchasing an additional 4,947 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC grew its holdings in Heritage Financial by 437.3% in the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 107,482 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,615,000 after buying an additional 87,479 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its holdings in Heritage Financial by 7.4% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 78,130 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,901,000 after buying an additional 5,417 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its holdings in 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 worth $488,000 after buying an additional 881 shares in the last quarter. 78.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.