Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) Given New $26.00 Price Target at Stephens

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) had its price target hoisted by Stephens from $24.00 to $26.00 in a research note published on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. Stephens currently has an equal weight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other analysts have also commented on HFWA. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Heritage Financial from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Heritage Financial from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $25.00.

Heritage Financial Price Performance

HFWA opened at $22.99 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $21.98 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $20.06. Heritage Financial has a 52-week low of $15.94 and a 52-week high of $23.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $793.06 million, a P/E ratio of 21.29 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81.

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by ($0.09). Heritage Financial had a net margin of 14.59% and a return on equity of 7.95%. The company had revenue of $81.65 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $58.17 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.51 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Heritage Financial will post 1.66 EPS for the current year.

Heritage Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 6th will be issued a $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 6th. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.00%. Heritage Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 85.19%.

Institutional Trading of Heritage Financial

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of HFWA. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Heritage Financial by 133.7% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,374 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 786 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new position in Heritage Financial during the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in Heritage Financial during the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Point72 DIFC Ltd bought a new position in shares of Heritage Financial in the second quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Heritage Financial in the second quarter worth $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.