Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) Shares Gap Down - Should You Sell?

Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA - Get Free Report)'s stock price gapped down prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $21.34, but opened at $20.04. Heritage Financial shares last traded at $20.99, with a volume of 18,639 shares traded.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Heritage Financial Stock Performance

The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $23.80 and a 200 day simple moving average of $24.14. 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 company has a market cap of $720.95 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.10 and a beta of 0.47.

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Heritage Financial Co. will post 2.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Heritage Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 6th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.53%. 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 payout ratio is currently 77.42%.

Insider Activity at Heritage Financial

In related news, CEO Jeffrey J. Deuel sold 7,033 shares of the business'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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 70,906 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,677,635.96. The trade was a 9.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction of $101,720.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 3,844 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $97,752.92. This trade represents a 50.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 15,311 shares of company stock worth $369,193 in the last 90 days. 1.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC increased its position in 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 worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 945 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in Heritage Financial by 6.8% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 29,901 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $733,000 after purchasing an additional 1,914 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Heritage Financial by 10.2% during the 4th quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 20,710 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $507,000 after purchasing an additional 1,917 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Keybank National Association OH lifted its position in Heritage Financial by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 49,841 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,221,000 after purchasing an additional 2,477 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.30% of the company's stock.

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.