Heritage Financial (HFWA) versus Its Rivals Head to Head Comparison

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) is one of 919 publicly-traded companies in the “Banks” industry, but how does it weigh in compared to its rivals? We will compare Heritage Financial to related businesses based on the strength of its valuation, institutional ownership, risk, analyst recommendations, profitability, dividends and earnings.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Heritage Financial and its rivals gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Heritage Financial	$314.90 million	$67.53 million	13.98
Heritage Financial Competitors	$208.16 billion	$2.42 billion	21.45

Heritage Financial’s rivals have higher revenue and earnings than Heritage Financial. Heritage Financial is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its rivals, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry.

Volatility and Risk

Heritage Financial has a beta of 0.53, indicating that its share price is 47% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Heritage Financial’s rivals have a beta of 0.61, indicating that their average share price is 39% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Heritage Financial and its rivals’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Heritage Financial	19.24%	8.70%	1.14%
Heritage Financial Competitors	15.63%	9.41%	0.93%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for Heritage Financial and its rivals, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Heritage Financial	0	4	4	0	2.50
Heritage Financial Competitors	7494	30253	27859	1490	2.35

Heritage Financial presently has a consensus target price of $32.67, indicating a potential upside of 16.27%. As a group, “Banks” companies have a potential upside of 14.45%. Given Heritage Financial’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe Heritage Financial is more favorable than its rivals.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

78.3% of Heritage Financial shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 48.0% of shares of all “Banks” companies are held by institutional investors. 1.5% of Heritage Financial shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 9.7% of shares of all “Banks” companies are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Dividends

Heritage Financial pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.6%. Heritage Financial pays out 49.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “Banks” companies pay a dividend yield of 8.9% and pay out 28.9% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. Heritage Financial has raised its dividend for 14 consecutive years. Heritage Financial lags its rivals as a dividend stock, given its lower dividend yield and higher payout ratio.

Summary

Heritage Financial rivals beat Heritage Financial on 9 of the 15 factors compared.

Heritage Financial Company Profile

Heritage Financial Corporation is a bank holding company whose principal subsidiary, Heritage Bank, provides commercial and consumer banking services. Its offerings include business and personal deposit accounts, commercial and residential lending, mortgage services, cash management and other banking services. The company serves individuals, businesses and organizations in Washington and Oregon, with a focus on communities in the Pacific Northwest. Its services include financing for businesses and real estate, as well as everyday banking and digital account services.