Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) Receives Market Perform Rating from Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued their market perform rating on shares of Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $20.00 price target on the financial services provider’s stock.

Separately, Stephens reiterated an equal weight rating and issued a $22.00 price target on shares of Heritage Financial in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Heritage Financial currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $21.75.

Heritage Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ HFWA opened at $18.03 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $17.95 and a 200 day moving average of $18.88. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $625.46 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.56 and a beta of 0.55. Heritage Financial has a 12-month low of $15.50 and a 12-month high of $22.55.

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.40 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $48.63 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $59.87 million. Heritage Financial had a return on equity of 8.18% and a net margin of 15.70%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Heritage Financial will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Heritage Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 8th were given a dividend of $0.23 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 7th. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.10%. Heritage Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 69.17%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Heritage Financial

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of HFWA. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Heritage Financial by 72.6% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 3,394 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $73,000 after acquiring an additional 1,428 shares during the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale bought a new position in shares of Heritage Financial during the fourth quarter worth $81,000. Arizona State Retirement System bought a new position in shares of Heritage Financial during the fourth quarter worth $210,000. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Heritage Financial during the first quarter worth $216,000. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its position in shares of Heritage Financial by 50.1% during the third quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 18,273 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $299,000 after acquiring an additional 6,096 shares during 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.