Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA) Plans $0.23 Quarterly Dividend

Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, April 24th, Zacks reports. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 8th will be paid a dividend of 0.23 per share by the financial services provider on Wednesday, May 22nd. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 7th.

Heritage Financial has increased its dividend by an average of 3.2% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 2 years. Heritage Financial has a dividend payout ratio of 48.2% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Heritage Financial to earn $1.84 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.92 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 50.0%.

Heritage Financial Stock Up 0.3 %

HFWA traded up $0.05 during trading on Friday, hitting $18.14. The stock had a trading volume of 9,067 shares, compared to its average volume of 181,345. The company has a market capitalization of $628.55 million, a PE ratio of 10.34 and a beta of 0.54. Heritage Financial has a twelve month low of $14.85 and a twelve month high of $22.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $18.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $18.72.

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.47. The company had revenue of $50.72 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $62.00 million. Heritage Financial had a net margin of 20.37% and a return on equity of 8.66%. On average, research analysts predict that Heritage Financial will post 1.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on HFWA. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Heritage Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $22.00 price objective on shares of Heritage Financial in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. DA Davidson lowered their price objective on shares of Heritage Financial from $24.00 to $23.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on shares of Heritage Financial from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $22.25.

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.