Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA) Short Interest Update

Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA - Get Free Report) was the target of a large decline in short interest in the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 576,400 shares, a decline of 11.2% from the January 15th total of 649,000 shares. Approximately 1.7% of the company's shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 196,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.9 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on HFWA. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Heritage Financial from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Stephens increased their target price on shares of Heritage Financial from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Heritage Financial from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, October 28th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Heritage Financial news, Director Frederick B. Rivera sold 4,000 shares of Heritage Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.43, for a total value of $101,720.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,844 shares of the company's stock, valued at $97,752.92. The trade was a 50.99 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 1.80% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Heritage Financial

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Barclays PLC boosted its position in shares of Heritage Financial by 105.4% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 73,300 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,595,000 after purchasing an additional 37,606 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC boosted its holdings in Heritage Financial by 46.9% in the third quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 65,088 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,417,000 after acquiring an additional 20,792 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC grew its stake in shares of Heritage Financial by 26.7% in the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,206,766 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $54,066,000 after acquiring an additional 465,708 shares during the last quarter. Nwam LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Heritage Financial in the third quarter worth $1,194,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Heritage Financial by 0.4% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 123,283 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,684,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.30% of the company's stock.

Heritage Financial Trading Down 0.3 %

Heritage Financial stock traded down $0.08 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $24.15. 332,425 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 188,321. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $24.60 and its 200 day moving average price is $23.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $824.82 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.48 and a beta of 0.56. Heritage Financial has a 52-week low of $16.55 and a 52-week high of $27.58.

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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, analysts anticipate that Heritage Financial will post 2.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Heritage Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 6th were paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.98%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 6th. This is a boost from Heritage Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. Heritage Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.42%.

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.