Insider Selling: Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA) CEO Sells 7,033 Shares of Stock

Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA - Get Free Report) CEO Jeffrey J. Deuel sold 7,033 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.66, for a total transaction of $166,400.78. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 70,906 shares in the company, valued at $1,677,635.96. This trade represents a 9.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Heritage Financial Price Performance

Shares of HFWA traded up $0.13 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $23.78. 2,465,100 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 191,471. The stock has a market cap of $808.31 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.18 and a beta of 0.53. Heritage Financial Co. has a 1-year low of $16.55 and a 1-year high of $27.58. The company has a 50 day moving average of $24.48 and a 200-day moving average of $24.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.84.

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. Analysts expect that Heritage Financial Co. will post 2.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Remove Ads

Heritage Financial Increases Dividend

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

Institutional Trading of Heritage Financial

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of HFWA. Sterling Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Heritage Financial by 794.1% in the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,064 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 945 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. grew its holdings in Heritage Financial by 519.0% in the 4th quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 3,553 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $87,000 after buying an additional 2,979 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio increased its stake in shares of Heritage Financial by 475.6% in the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 3,989 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $98,000 after acquiring an additional 3,296 shares during the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new position in shares of Heritage Financial during the 4th quarter worth $157,000. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new position in shares of Heritage Financial during the 4th quarter valued at about $166,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.30% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

About Heritage Financial

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.