Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) Issues Earnings Results

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The financial services provider reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.31 by $0.28, Zacks reports. Heritage Financial had a return on equity of 8.61% and a net margin of 20.10%.

Heritage Financial Trading Up 2.2%

Heritage Financial stock traded up $0.59 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $27.92. 75,791 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 292,635. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $26.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $25.02. Heritage Financial has a 52 week low of $21.32 and a 52 week high of $28.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.15 billion, a PE ratio of 14.24 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Heritage Financial news, EVP Kelli Ann Wilson sold 1,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.48, for a total transaction of $50,312.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 3,778 shares in the company, valued at approximately $100,041.44. This trade represents a 33.46% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Frederick B. Rivera sold 1,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.31, for a total transaction of $47,358.00. Following the sale, the director owned 4,972 shares in the company, valued at $130,813.32. This trade represents a 26.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 8,368 shares of company stock worth $226,740. Company insiders own 1.49% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Heritage Financial

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Heritage Financial by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,573,458 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,212,000 after buying an additional 48,765 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Heritage Financial by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 842,598 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $19,929,000 after buying an additional 4,170 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new stake in Heritage Financial during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $11,210,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Heritage Financial by 1.7% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 393,619 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,384,000 after purchasing an additional 6,663 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bridgeway Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Heritage Financial by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 275,015 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,504,000 after purchasing an additional 14,780 shares during the last quarter. 78.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on HFWA. Piper Sandler reduced their target price 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, April 2nd. Stephens raised their target price on shares of Heritage Financial from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Heritage Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 4th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Heritage Financial from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, DA Davidson raised their target price on shares of Heritage Financial from $29.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $31.00.

About Heritage Financial

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.