Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) Stock Price

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA - Get Free Report) had its price target dropped by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $27.00 to $26.00 in a report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a "market perform" rating on the financial services provider's stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods' target price points to a potential upside of 10.26% from the stock's previous close.

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Heritage Financial from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th.

Heritage Financial Stock Up 2.3 %

HFWA traded up $0.54 on Monday, hitting $23.58. The company had a trading volume of 191,414 shares, compared to its average volume of 210,594. Heritage Financial has a 52-week low of $16.55 and a 52-week high of $27.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $801.51 million, a P/E ratio of 19.02 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $23.15 and a 200-day simple moving average of $24.22.

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.03. Heritage Financial had a return on equity of 7.17% and a net margin of 13.64%. The company had revenue of $57.59 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $61.74 million. As a group, equities analysts expect that Heritage Financial will post 2.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Donald Hinson sold 3,420 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.59, for a total value of $80,677.80. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 42,087 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $992,832.33. This represents a 7.52 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jeffrey J. Deuel sold 7,033 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.66, for a total value of $166,400.78. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 70,906 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,677,635.96. This trade represents a 9.02 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 11,311 shares of company stock valued at $267,473. 1.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Heritage Financial

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sterling Capital Management LLC increased its position in Heritage Financial by 794.1% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,064 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 945 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Heritage Financial by 45.3% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,972 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $72,000 after buying an additional 927 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Heritage Financial by 519.0% in the fourth quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 3,553 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $87,000 after acquiring an additional 2,979 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio boosted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 3,296 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC grew its position in Heritage Financial by 14.8% during the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,042 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $98,000 after acquiring an additional 520 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.30% of the company's stock.

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.