Heritage Financial (HFWA) Competitors

Banner (NASDAQ:BANR) and Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) are both finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, profitability, media sentiment, dividends, valuation, analyst recommendations, risk and earnings.

Is BANR or HFWA a better dividend stock?

Banner pays an annual dividend of $1.92 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.9%. Heritage Financial pays an annual dividend of $0.96 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.9%. Banner pays out 36.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Heritage Financial pays out 67.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Heritage Financial has increased its dividend for 14 consecutive years. Heritage Financial is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Do analysts prefer BANR or HFWA?

Banner presently has a consensus price target of $70.17, indicating a potential upside of 5.44%. Heritage Financial has a consensus price target of $27.67, indicating a potential upside of 12.53%. Given Heritage Financial's higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Heritage Financial is more favorable than Banner.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Banner	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.60
Heritage Financial	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.33

Which has better earnings and valuation, BANR or HFWA?

Banner has higher revenue and earnings than Heritage Financial. Banner is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Heritage Financial, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Banner	$832.99M	2.76	$168.90M	$5.25	12.68
Heritage Financial	$317.18M	2.63	$43.26M	$1.43	17.19

Does the media refer more to BANR or HFWA?

In the previous week, Banner had 4 more articles in the media than Heritage Financial. MarketBeat recorded 7 mentions for Banner and 3 mentions for Heritage Financial. Heritage Financial's average media sentiment score of 1.57 beat Banner's score of 0.60 indicating that Heritage Financial is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Banner	3 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	1 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Heritage Financial	3 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive

Do institutionals & insiders believe in BANR or HFWA?

87.3% of Banner shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 78.3% of Heritage Financial shares are held by institutional investors. 1.7% of Banner shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.8% of Heritage Financial shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Is BANR or HFWA more profitable?

Banner has a net margin of 21.15% compared to Heritage Financial's net margin of 15.22%. Banner's return on equity of 10.06% beat Heritage Financial's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Banner	21.15%	10.06%	1.13%
Heritage Financial	15.22%	7.34%	0.90%

Which has more volatility & risk, BANR or HFWA?

Banner has a beta of 0.95, indicating that its stock price is 5% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Heritage Financial has a beta of 0.56, indicating that its stock price is 44% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Banner beats Heritage Financial on 13 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.