Nwam LLC Buys Shares of 54,852 Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA)

Nwam LLC bought a new position in shares of Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA - Free Report) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 54,852 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,194,000. Nwam LLC owned approximately 0.16% of Heritage Financial as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Heritage Financial by 4.3% during the 2nd 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 last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in shares of Heritage Financial by 71.4% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,741,058 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $37,903,000 after buying an additional 725,257 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its holdings in Heritage Financial by 5.6% during the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 321,089 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $5,789,000 after acquiring an additional 17,100 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in shares of Heritage Financial by 3.0% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 278,017 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $5,013,000 after acquiring an additional 8,112 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Great Lakes Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Heritage Financial by 5.4% in the 2nd quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC now owns 220,644 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,978,000 after purchasing an additional 11,318 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.30% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Heritage Financial

In related news, EVP Tony Chalfant sold 2,975 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.50, for a total value of $78,837.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly 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 at this link. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Heritage Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ HFWA traded up $0.71 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $26.50. The company's stock had a trading volume of 117,404 shares, compared to its average volume of 201,811. Heritage Financial Co. has a one year low of $16.55 and a one year high of $27.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $905.08 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.54 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $23.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $20.96.

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

Heritage Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 6th were paid a $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 6th. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.47%. Heritage Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 85.19%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HFWA has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler raised their price objective 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. Stephens lifted their price target on shares of Heritage Financial from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Heritage Financial presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $25.00.

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.