Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) Stock Dropped to Strong Sell by Zacks Research

Zacks Research downgraded shares of Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) from a hold rating to a strong sell rating in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning,Zacks reports.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on HFWA. Stephens upped their target price on Heritage Financial from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Heritage Financial from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Heritage Financial in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Brean Capital upgraded shares of Heritage Financial from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $33.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Capital One Financial set a $33.00 target price on shares of Heritage Financial in a report on Tuesday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Heritage Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $32.67.

Heritage Financial Stock Up 1.1%

HFWA opened at $28.25 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $29.22 and a two-hundred day moving average of $28.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.45 and a beta of 0.48. Heritage Financial has a fifty-two week low of $21.32 and a fifty-two week high of $31.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.83.

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.13. Heritage Financial had a net margin of 20.44% and a return on equity of 8.78%. The company had revenue of $84.12 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $86.30 million. On average, research analysts expect that Heritage Financial will post 2.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Heritage Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 19th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 5th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This is a boost from Heritage Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 5th. Heritage Financial’s payout ratio is 47.62%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Tony Chalfant sold 3,234 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.92, for a total transaction of $96,761.28. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 20,362 shares in the company, valued at approximately $609,231.04. The trade was a 13.71% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Kelli Wilson sold 3,778 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.69, for a total transaction of $112,168.82. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 3,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $92,009.31. This trade represents a 54.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 22,004 shares of company stock valued at $657,200 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.49% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Heritage Financial

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Heritage Financial in the second quarter valued at approximately $172,125,000. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. acquired a new stake in shares of Heritage Financial in the 2nd quarter worth $20,408,000. Algebris UK Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Heritage Financial in the second quarter valued at about $13,860,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Heritage Financial in the second quarter valued at about $11,817,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company purchased a new position in Heritage Financial during the second quarter worth about $9,142,000. 78.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Heritage Financial Company Profile

Heritage Financial Corporation (NASDAQ: HFWA) is a bank holding company headquartered in Olympia, Washington. Through its principal subsidiary, Heritage Bank, the company provides a range of banking and financial services to businesses, individuals, and organizations in communities across Washington and Oregon.

Heritage Bank’s offerings include commercial and industrial lending, commercial real estate and construction loans, residential real estate financing, consumer loans, deposit accounts, cash-management services, online and mobile banking, and other treasury-management solutions.