Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) Hits New 52-Week High – Should You Buy?

Heritage Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:HFWA)’s share price reached a new 52-week high on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $26.08 and last traded at $25.97, with a volume of 165616 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $25.67.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded Heritage Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 15th. DA Davidson set a $29.00 price target on Heritage Financial in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Heritage Financial in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Zacks Research cut shares of Heritage Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Heritage Financial from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Heritage Financial currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $29.33.

Heritage Financial Price Performance

The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $23.30 and its 200-day simple moving average is $23.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $877.53 million, a PE ratio of 15.66 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.56. Heritage Financial had a net margin of 17.27% and a return on equity of 8.21%. The company had revenue of $65.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $65.25 million. On average, research analysts forecast that Heritage Financial Corporation will post 2.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Heritage Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 19th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 5th were paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 5th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.7%. Heritage Financial’s payout ratio is currently 58.18%.

Insider Activity at Heritage Financial

In other Heritage Financial news, President Bryan Mcdonald acquired 19,106 shares of Heritage Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 20th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $22.32 per share, for a total transaction of $426,445.92. Following the acquisition, the president owned 31,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $700,022.16. This represents a 155.88% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Heritage Financial

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Strs Ohio bought a new stake in Heritage Financial during the first quarter valued at approximately $613,000. Penn Capital Management Company LLC purchased a new position in shares of Heritage Financial during the 1st quarter worth $631,000. Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its position in shares of Heritage Financial by 26.7% during the 1st quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 107,826 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,623,000 after acquiring an additional 22,718 shares during the period. Trexquant Investment LP increased its stake in shares of Heritage Financial by 73.1% in the 1st quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 116,930 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,845,000 after purchasing an additional 49,371 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Heritage Financial in the 1st quarter worth $2,491,000. Hedge funds and other 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.