Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA) to Issue $0.23 Quarterly Dividend

Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, April 24th, Zacks reports. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 8th will be given a dividend of 0.23 per share by the financial services provider on Wednesday, May 22nd. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 7th.

Heritage Financial has raised its dividend payment by an average of 3.2% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 2 consecutive years. Heritage Financial has a payout ratio of 48.2% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Heritage Financial to earn $1.84 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.92 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 50.0%.

Heritage Financial Trading Down 2.8 %

NASDAQ HFWA opened at $18.09 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $626.82 million, a P/E ratio of 10.34 and a beta of 0.54. Heritage Financial has a 52-week low of $14.85 and a 52-week high of $22.55. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $18.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $18.72. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $62.00 million. Equities research analysts expect that Heritage Financial will post 1.74 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on HFWA. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price 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. StockNews.com raised shares of Heritage Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. DA Davidson lowered their price target on shares of Heritage Financial from $24.00 to $23.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $22.00 target price on shares of Heritage Financial in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price 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.