Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA) Director Frederick B. Rivera Sells 4,000 Shares

Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA - Get Free Report) Director Frederick B. Rivera sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.43, for a total value of $101,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,844 shares in the company, valued at approximately $97,752.92. This trade represents a 50.99 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

Heritage Financial Trading Up 3.7 %

Shares of Heritage Financial stock traded up $0.90 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $25.55. The company's stock had a trading volume of 331,596 shares, compared to its average volume of 174,850. Heritage Financial Co. has a 12 month low of $16.55 and a 12 month high of $27.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The company has a market capitalization of $872.53 million, a PE ratio of 23.66 and a beta of 0.57. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $25.10 and a 200 day moving average of $23.28.

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA - Get Free Report) last announced its 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 net margin of 12.27% and a return on equity of 7.01%. Analysts predict that Heritage Financial Co. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Heritage Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 6th will be paid a $0.24 dividend. This is an increase from Heritage Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 6th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.76%. Heritage Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 85.19%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on HFWA. Stephens raised their target price on Heritage Financial from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Heritage Financial from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, October 28th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of HFWA. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in Heritage Financial by 105.4% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 73,300 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,595,000 after acquiring an additional 37,606 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC boosted its holdings in Heritage Financial by 46.9% during the third quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 65,088 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,417,000 after purchasing an additional 20,792 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Heritage Financial by 4.3% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,934,852 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $34,884,000 after purchasing an additional 80,044 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in Heritage Financial by 71.4% in 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 buying an additional 725,257 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nwam LLC bought a new stake in Heritage Financial during the 3rd quarter worth about $1,194,000. 78.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

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