FRME vs HFWA: Correlation
First Merchants Corporation (FRME) and Heritage Financial Corporation (HFWA) show a very strong relationship: their 3-year correlation of weekly returns is 0.87.
Data as of 2026-08-27 · refreshed every trading day · weekly returns · methodology
How correlated are FRME and HFWA?
On 3 years of weekly data the FRME/HFWA correlation comes out at 0.87, very strong, meaning they move nearly in lockstep. Little has changed lately, as the 1-year reading of 0.81 lands near the 3-year figure. The 5-year figure is 0.83, and annualized covariance runs at 786.4 %².
Within FRME's tracked universe of 26 assets, HFWA comes in at #9 by 3-year correlation. The last year tells two different stories: HFWA led by 17.3 percentage points, +3.5% for FRME against +20.8% for HFWA.
How is this computed?
Pearson correlation on weekly returns: ρ(A,B) = cov(rA, rB) / (σA · σB), over windows of 52, 156 and 260 weeks. Covariance is annualized (×52) and expressed in %². Full definitions on the methodology page.
FRME vs HFWA: side by side
| FRME (First Merchants Corporation) | HFWA (Heritage Financial Corporation) | |
|---|---|---|
| 1-year return | +3.5% | +20.8% |
| 5-year return | +22.0% | +38.4% |
| Volatility (ann.) | 29.8% | 30.5% |
| Beta vs S&P 500 | 0.78 | 0.66 |
| Max drawdown (3Y) | -23.9% | -22.4% |
| Market cap | $2.6B | $1.2B |
| P/E (trailing) | 13.4 | 13.7 |
| Dividend yield | 3.48% | 3.34% |
| Sector / category | US Listed | US Listed |
Year-by-year returns
| Year | FRME | HFWA |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 | +1.1% | +29.3% |
| 2023 | -5.8% | -26.9% |
| 2024 | +11.8% | +19.8% |
| 2025 | -2.5% | +0.6% |
| 2026 | +13.3% | +24.4% |
Calendar-year price returns; the current year is year-to-date as of the data date above.
Are FRME and HFWA good diversifiers for each other?
No. With a correlation of 0.87, FRME and HFWA move nearly in lockstep, so holding both adds very little diversification.
FAQ
What is the correlation between FRME and HFWA?
As of 2026-08-27, the correlation of weekly returns between FRME and HFWA is 0.87 over 3 years, 0.81 over 1 year and 0.83 over 5 years.
Is HFWA a good diversifier for FRME?
No. With a correlation of 0.87, FRME and HFWA move nearly in lockstep, so holding both adds very little diversification.
What does a correlation of 0.87 mean?
On the −1 to +1 scale, 0.87 describes how much the two returns move together: +1 is lockstep, 0 is independence, negative values mean opposite directions. It says nothing about which performed better.
Use this data
$ curl https://www.pairbook.io/api/v1/pairs/frme-vs-hfwa.json
Markdown for the live badge, attribution link included:
[](https://www.pairbook.io/pair/frme-vs-hfwa/)
Free with attribution; caching and terms are described in the API documentation.
Related comparisons
Hubs: FRME correlations · HFWA correlations
