Heritage Financial (HFWA) Set to Announce Earnings on Thursday

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) is scheduled to release its earnings data before the market opens on Thursday, April 25th. Analysts expect Heritage Financial to post earnings of $0.41 per share for the quarter. Persons interested in registering for the company’s earnings conference call can do so using this link.

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47. Heritage Financial had a net margin of 20.37% and a return on equity of 8.66%. The company had revenue of $50.72 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $62.00 million. On average, analysts expect Heritage Financial to post $2 EPS for the current fiscal year and $2 EPS for the next fiscal year.

Heritage Financial Stock Up 1.3 %

HFWA opened at $17.34 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The company’s 50-day moving average is $18.42 and its 200 day moving average is $18.66. Heritage Financial has a fifty-two week low of $14.85 and a fifty-two week high of $22.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $600.92 million, a P/E ratio of 9.91 and a beta of 0.54.

Heritage Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 22nd. Investors of record on Thursday, February 8th were given a dividend of $0.23 per share. This is a positive change from Heritage Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 7th. Heritage Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.57%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Heritage Financial

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of HFWA. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Heritage Financial by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,675,478 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $57,228,000 after purchasing an additional 115,189 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of Heritage Financial by 30.5% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 28,313 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $606,000 after acquiring an additional 6,615 shares during the last quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main bought a new stake in shares of Heritage Financial in the 4th quarter worth approximately $509,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Heritage Financial by 78.4% in the 4th quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 47,228 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,010,000 after acquiring an additional 20,749 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its stake in shares of Heritage Financial by 31.3% in the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 77,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,664,000 after buying an additional 18,542 shares during the period. 78.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Heritage Financial Company Profile

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.