Heritage Financial’s (HFWA) Buy Rating Reiterated at DA Davidson

DA Davidson reiterated their buy rating on shares of Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) in a report released on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. DA Davidson currently has a $28.00 target price on the financial services provider’s stock.

Separately, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Heritage Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, July 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $27.75.

Heritage Financial Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of Heritage Financial stock opened at $24.85 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85. The company has a fifty day moving average of $23.95 and a 200 day moving average of $23.62. The company has a market capitalization of $843.66 million, a P/E ratio of 17.38 and a beta of 0.56. Heritage Financial has a fifty-two week low of $19.84 and a fifty-two week high of $27.58.

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.53 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.03. Heritage Financial had a return on equity of 7.34% and a net margin of 15.22%.The firm had revenue of $56.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $63.54 million. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Heritage Financial will post 2.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Heritage Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 6th were paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 6th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.9%. Heritage Financial’s payout ratio is presently 67.13%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Heritage Financial

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Heritage Financial by 27,871.4% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,958 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 1,951 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its holdings in shares of Heritage Financial by 99.1% in the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,875 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $69,000 after buying an additional 1,431 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Heritage Financial by 45.3% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,972 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $72,000 after buying an additional 927 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lifted its holdings in shares of Heritage Financial by 475.6% in the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 3,989 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $98,000 after acquiring an additional 3,296 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC grew its position in Heritage Financial by 14.8% in the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,042 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $98,000 after acquiring an additional 520 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.