Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) Sets New 52-Week High – Here’s Why

Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $27.58 and last traded at $27.15, with a volume of 38727 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $26.50.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on HFWA shares. Stephens increased their price target on Heritage Financial from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Heritage Financial from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $25.00.

Heritage Financial Stock Performance

The firm has a fifty day moving average of $23.31 and a 200 day moving average of $21.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The stock has a market cap of $915.22 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.88 and a beta of 0.52.

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.42 by ($0.09). The business had revenue of $81.65 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $58.17 million. Heritage Financial had a return on equity of 7.01% and a net margin of 12.27%. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.51 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Heritage Financial Co. will post 1.65 EPS for the current year.

Heritage Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 6th were paid a dividend of $0.23 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 6th. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.43%. Heritage Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 85.19%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Tony Chalfant sold 2,975 shares of Heritage Financial stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.50, for a total value of $78,837.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 20,119 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $533,153.50. The trade was a 12.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.68% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Heritage Financial

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of HFWA. Jennison Associates LLC grew its stake in shares of Heritage Financial by 71.4% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,741,058 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,903,000 after buying an additional 725,257 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Heritage Financial by 4.3% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,934,852 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,884,000 after buying an additional 80,044 shares in the last quarter. Nwam LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Heritage Financial in the third quarter valued at $1,194,000. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Heritage Financial in the second quarter valued at $951,000. Finally, Boston Partners grew its stake in shares of Heritage Financial by 70.5% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 112,443 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,180,000 after buying an additional 46,511 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.