Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) Stock Price Passes Above 200 Day Moving Average – Here’s Why

Heritage Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:HFWA)’s share price crossed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Monday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $25.99 and traded as high as $28.18. Heritage Financial shares last traded at $27.91, with a volume of 194,004 shares.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Heritage Financial from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Weiss Ratings raised Heritage Financial from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Piper Sandler cut their price target on Heritage Financial from $34.00 to $32.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Heritage Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $30.50.

Heritage Financial Price Performance

The stock’s fifty day moving average is $27.14 and its 200-day moving average is $26.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.18 billion, a PE ratio of 14.08 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81.

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.02. Heritage Financial had a net margin of 20.50% and a return on equity of 8.71%. The firm had revenue of $77.92 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $80.31 million. As a group, equities analysts predict that Heritage Financial Corporation will post 2.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Heritage Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 6th were issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 6th. Heritage Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.06%.

Insider Transactions at Heritage Financial

In other news, CFO Donald Hinson sold 3,842 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.37, for a total value of $108,997.54. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 41,241 shares in the company, valued at $1,170,007.17. This represents a 8.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 1.49% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Heritage Financial

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of HFWA. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its holdings in shares of Heritage Financial by 2.9% in the first quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 18,381 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $478,000 after purchasing an additional 514 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC grew its holdings in shares of Heritage Financial by 7.7% in the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 8,249 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $195,000 after purchasing an additional 592 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Heritage Financial by 4.6% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 20,060 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $488,000 after purchasing an additional 881 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Heritage Financial by 20.8% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,171 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $122,000 after purchasing an additional 891 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Heritage Financial by 2.7% in the third quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 35,891 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $868,000 after purchasing an additional 960 shares in the last quarter. 78.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Heritage Financial Company Profile

Heritage Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:HFWA) is a bank holding company headquartered in Spokane, Washington. Through its primary subsidiary, Heritage Bank, the company provides a comprehensive range of banking and financial services to both individual and commercial clients. Heritage Bank’s offerings encompass deposit products, lending solutions, treasury and cash management services, mortgage banking, and wealth management, positioning the organization as a full-service community bank.

The company’s lending portfolio includes commercial real estate loans, agricultural loans, small business administration (SBA) loans, construction and development financing, and a variety of consumer mortgage products.