Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) Upgraded at Brean Capital

Brean Capital upgraded shares of Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Tuesday, MarketBeat reports. Brean Capital currently has $33.00 price target on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other research firms also recently commented on HFWA. Stephens raised their price objective on Heritage Financial from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Zacks Research upgraded Heritage Financial from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Heritage Financial in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. DA Davidson raised their price target on Heritage Financial from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Heritage Financial from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $32.67.

Heritage Financial Price Performance

Heritage Financial stock opened at $28.25 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The stock has a market cap of $1.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.45 and a beta of 0.48. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $29.22 and a two-hundred day moving average of $28.02. Heritage Financial has a 1 year low of $21.32 and a 1 year high of $31.25.

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by $0.13. Heritage Financial had a net margin of 20.44% and a return on equity of 8.78%. The business had revenue of $84.12 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $86.30 million. On average, research analysts forecast that Heritage Financial will post 2.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Heritage Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 19th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 5th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.5%. This is a positive change from Heritage Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 5th. Heritage Financial’s payout ratio is presently 47.62%.

Insider Activity at Heritage Financial

In other Heritage Financial news, EVP Tony Chalfant sold 3,234 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.92, for a total transaction of $96,761.28. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 20,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $609,231.04. This trade represents a 13.71% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Jeffrey Lyon sold 10,000 shares of Heritage Financial stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.00, for a total value of $300,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 40,719 shares in the company, valued at $1,221,570. This represents a 19.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 22,004 shares of company stock valued at $657,200 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.49% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Heritage Financial

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Allworth Financial LP bought a new position in Heritage Financial in the second quarter worth about $40,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC bought a new stake in shares of Heritage Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at about $68,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Heritage Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at about $95,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Heritage Financial by 12.2% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 6,519 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $193,000 after buying an additional 710 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC purchased a new position in shares of Heritage Financial in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $214,000. Institutional investors own 78.30% of the company’s stock.

Heritage Financial Company Profile

Heritage Financial Corporation (NASDAQ: HFWA) is a bank holding company headquartered in Olympia, Washington. Through its principal subsidiary, Heritage Bank, the company provides a range of banking and financial services to businesses, individuals, and organizations in communities across Washington and Oregon.

Heritage Bank’s offerings include commercial and industrial lending, commercial real estate and construction loans, residential real estate financing, consumer loans, deposit accounts, cash-management services, online and mobile banking, and other treasury-management solutions.