Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) Releases Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.05 EPS

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The financial services provider reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.05, Zacks reports. Heritage Financial had a net margin of 20.44% and a return on equity of 8.78%.

Heritage Financial Trading Up 1.5%

NASDAQ HFWA opened at $28.10 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The firm has a market cap of $1.15 billion, a PE ratio of 13.38 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $28.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $28.33. Heritage Financial has a 52 week low of $21.32 and a 52 week high of $31.25.

Insider Activity at Heritage Financial

In other Heritage Financial news, EVP Kelli Wilson sold 3,778 shares of Heritage Financial stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.69, for a total value of $112,168.82. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 3,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $92,009.31. The trade was a 54.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Frederick B. Rivera sold 1,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.57, for a total value of $37,141.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 5,890 shares in the company, valued at approximately $168,277.30. The trade was a 18.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 22,004 shares of company stock valued at $657,200 over the last three months. Company insiders own 1.49% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Capital One Financial set a $33.00 price target on Heritage Financial in a report on Tuesday, September 22nd. Stephens lifted their target price on Heritage Financial from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Heritage Financial in a research report on Friday, October 2nd. Zacks Research cut Heritage Financial from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 23rd. Finally, Brean Capital raised Heritage Financial from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $33.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 22nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $32.67.

About Heritage Financial

Heritage Financial Corporation (NASDAQ: HFWA) is a bank holding company headquartered in Olympia, Washington. The company operates primarily through Heritage Bank, a community-focused financial institution serving businesses, individuals and organizations in Washington and Oregon.

Heritage Bank provides commercial and residential real estate lending, business and consumer loans, deposit accounts, cash-management and treasury services, online and mobile banking, and other traditional banking products.