Bank of New York Mellon Corp Trims Stake in Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp reduced its position in Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA - Free Report) by 45.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 366,836 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 311,240 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned 1.07% of Heritage Financial worth $8,987,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in Heritage Financial by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 113,128 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,463,000 after acquiring an additional 5,762 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC raised its stake in Heritage Financial by 71.4% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,741,058 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $37,903,000 after acquiring an additional 725,257 shares during the last quarter. Nwam LLC purchased a new stake in Heritage Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,194,000. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new stake in Heritage Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $338,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in Heritage Financial by 90.7% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 34,672 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $755,000 after acquiring an additional 16,489 shares during the last quarter. 78.30% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com raised Heritage Financial from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th.

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Heritage Financial Trading Up 2.3 %

Shares of HFWA opened at $23.77 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $807.97 million, a P/E ratio of 19.17 and a beta of 0.53. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $24.49 and its 200 day simple moving average is $23.97. Heritage Financial Co. has a twelve month low of $16.55 and a twelve month high of $27.58.

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.06. Heritage Financial had a return on equity of 7.17% and a net margin of 13.64%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Heritage Financial Co. will post 2.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Heritage Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 6th were paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.04%. This is an increase from Heritage Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 6th. Heritage Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 77.42%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Heritage Financial news, Director Frederick B. Rivera sold 4,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.43, for a total value of $101,720.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 3,844 shares of the company's stock, valued at $97,752.92. This trade represents a 50.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 1.80% of the company's stock.

Heritage Financial 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.

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