Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) Stock Rating Upgraded by Wall Street Zen

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) was upgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a note issued to investors on Saturday.

A number of other research firms have also commented on HFWA. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of Heritage Financial from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. DA Davidson increased their target price on shares of Heritage Financial from $29.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Stephens raised their price target on Heritage Financial from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Heritage Financial from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $31.00.

Heritage Financial Price Performance

HFWA stock opened at $26.10 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.32 and a beta of 0.49. Heritage Financial has a twelve month low of $19.84 and a twelve month high of $28.98. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $26.37 and a 200-day simple moving average of $24.78. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05.

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.09. Heritage Financial had a net margin of 20.10% and a return on equity of 8.61%. The business had revenue of $66.35 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $65.95 million. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Heritage Financial will post 2.09 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Kelli Ann Wilson sold 1,900 shares of Heritage Financial stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.48, for a total value of $50,312.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 3,778 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $100,041.44. The trade was a 33.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Frederick B. Rivera sold 1,800 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.31, for a total transaction of $47,358.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 4,972 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $130,813.32. This represents a 26.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 8,368 shares of company stock valued at $226,740 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Heritage Financial

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in Heritage Financial by 3.7% during the third quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,452 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $301,000 after acquiring an additional 450 shares during the period. CWM LLC lifted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 592 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Heritage Financial by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 20,060 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $488,000 after purchasing an additional 881 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Heritage Financial by 20.8% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,171 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $122,000 after purchasing an additional 891 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Heritage Financial by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 35,891 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $868,000 after purchasing an additional 960 shares during the period. 78.30% of the stock is 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.