Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) Stock Price Crosses Above 200-Day Moving Average – Should You Sell?

Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA)’s stock price crossed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Friday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $22.68 and traded as high as $23.31. Heritage Financial shares last traded at $23.08, with a volume of 149,212 shares traded.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. Stephens boosted their target price on shares of Heritage Financial from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Heritage Financial from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $25.00.

Heritage Financial Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.82. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $25.39 and its 200 day simple moving average is $22.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $788.27 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.37 and a beta of 0.57.

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.42 by ($0.09). Heritage Financial had a net margin of 12.27% and a return on equity of 7.01%. The firm had revenue of $81.65 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $58.17 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.51 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Heritage Financial Co. will post 1.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Heritage Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 6th were given a dividend of $0.23 per share. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 6th. Heritage Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 85.19%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Tony Chalfant sold 2,975 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.50, for a total transaction of $78,837.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 20,119 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $533,153.50. This represents a 12.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Heritage Financial

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in Heritage Financial by 71.4% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,741,058 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,903,000 after buying an additional 725,257 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Heritage Financial by 4.3% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,934,852 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,884,000 after buying an additional 80,044 shares during the period. Nwam LLC purchased a new position in Heritage Financial during the third quarter worth about $1,194,000. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC purchased a new position in Heritage Financial during the second quarter worth about $951,000. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its stake in Heritage Financial by 105.4% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 73,300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,595,000 after buying an additional 37,606 shares during the period. 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.