US Bancorp DE Decreases Stock Holdings in Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA)

US Bancorp DE decreased its stake in Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA - Free Report) by 93.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,584 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 155,592 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE's holdings in Heritage Financial were worth $259,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Aspire Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Heritage Financial in the fourth quarter valued at about $215,000. Ieq Capital LLC acquired a new position in Heritage Financial during the fourth quarter worth about $274,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Heritage Financial during the fourth quarter worth about $280,000. SageView Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in Heritage Financial during the third quarter worth about $307,000. Finally, Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd acquired a new position in Heritage Financial during the third quarter worth about $338,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.30% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Frederick B. Rivera sold 4,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 3,844 shares of the company's stock, valued at $97,752.92. The trade was a 50.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.80% of the company's stock.

Remove Ads

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Heritage Financial Price Performance

HFWA traded up $0.53 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $23.77. 266,655 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 182,789. The business's 50-day moving average price is $24.49 and its 200 day moving average price is $23.97. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $807.97 million, a PE ratio of 19.17 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.

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

Heritage Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 6th were given a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.04%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 6th. This is a positive change from Heritage Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. Heritage Financial's payout ratio is currently 77.42%.

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.