Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) Hits New 52-Week High – Still a Buy?

Shares of Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $23.94 and last traded at $23.91, with a volume of 321301 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $23.23.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HFWA has been the subject of several recent research reports. Stephens increased their target price on shares of Heritage Financial from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Heritage Financial from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Heritage Financial from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. 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 data from MarketBeat, Heritage Financial currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $25.00.

Heritage Financial Price Performance

The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $22.16 and its 200-day moving average price is $20.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The firm has a market cap of $898.97 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.26 and a beta of 0.52.

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by ($0.09). The firm had revenue of $81.65 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $58.17 million. Heritage Financial had a net margin of 12.27% and a return on equity of 7.01%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.51 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Heritage Financial Co. will post 1.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Heritage Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 6th will be paid a $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 6th. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.53%. Heritage Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 85.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Heritage Financial

In other Heritage Financial news, EVP Tony Chalfant sold 2,975 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.50, for a total value of $78,837.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 20,119 shares in the company, valued at approximately $533,153.50. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HFWA. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake 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 worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 786 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Heritage Financial during the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Heritage Financial during the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. Point72 DIFC Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Heritage Financial during the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Heritage Financial during the 2nd quarter worth $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.30% of the company’s stock.

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.