Russell Investments Group Ltd. Purchases 112,419 Shares of Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA - Free Report) by 357.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 143,913 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 112,419 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned 0.42% of Heritage Financial worth $3,526,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Barclays PLC grew its stake in Heritage Financial by 105.4% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 73,300 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,595,000 after buying an additional 37,606 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Heritage Financial during the 4th quarter worth approximately $280,000. Jane Street Group LLC increased its stake 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 valued at $1,417,000 after acquiring an additional 20,792 shares during the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC acquired a new position in Heritage Financial during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $274,000. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake in Heritage Financial by 26.7% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,206,766 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $54,066,000 after purchasing an additional 465,708 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.30% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Insider Transactions at Heritage Financial

In related news, Director Frederick B. Rivera sold 4,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 27th. The stock was 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 owns 3,844 shares of the company's stock, valued at $97,752.92. This trade represents a 50.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Jeffrey J. Deuel sold 7,033 shares of Heritage Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.66, for a total value of $166,400.78. Following the completion of the sale, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 15,311 shares of company stock worth $369,193. Company insiders own 1.80% of the company's stock.

Heritage Financial Trading Up 3.6 %

Shares of Heritage Financial stock traded up $0.78 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $22.66. The company's stock had a trading volume of 206,882 shares, compared to its average volume of 208,335. The stock has a market cap of $770.24 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.27 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.82. Heritage Financial Co. has a 52 week low of $16.55 and a 52 week high of $27.58. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $23.35 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $24.16.

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Heritage Financial Co. will post 2.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Heritage Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 6th were issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This is a positive change from Heritage Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 6th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.24%. Heritage Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.42%.

Heritage Financial 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.