Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA) Short Interest Up 7.2% in December

Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest during the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 414,900 shares, a growth of 7.2% from the November 30th total of 386,900 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 176,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.4 days. Currently, 1.2% of the company's stock are sold short.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on HFWA. Stephens lifted their target price on Heritage Financial from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Heritage Financial from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Heritage Financial has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $25.00.

Heritage Financial Stock Performance

HFWA traded up $0.18 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $24.50. The stock had a trading volume of 176,790 shares, compared to its average volume of 142,325. The stock has a market cap of $836.68 million, a PE ratio of 22.69 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $25.25 and its 200 day simple moving average is $22.42. Heritage Financial has a 1 year low of $16.55 and a 1 year high of $27.58.

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.42 by ($0.09). Heritage Financial had a return on equity of 7.01% and a net margin of 12.27%. The business had revenue of $81.65 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $58.17 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.51 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Heritage Financial will post 1.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Heritage Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 6th were issued a $0.23 dividend. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 6th. Heritage Financial's payout ratio is 85.19%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Tony Chalfant sold 2,975 shares of Heritage Financial stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.50, for a total transaction of $78,837.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 20,119 shares in the company, valued at approximately $533,153.50. This trade represents a 12.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 1.80% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Heritage Financial by 0.4% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 123,283 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,684,000 after buying an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its position in shares of Heritage Financial by 105.4% during 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 during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Heritage Financial by 73.8% during the third quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 35,933 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $782,000 after purchasing an additional 15,259 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC increased its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 20,792 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Heritage Financial by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,594,963 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $34,722,000 after buying an additional 4,012 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.30% of the company's stock.

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.