Heartland Advisors Inc. Acquires New Position in Heritage Financial Corporation $HFWA

Heartland Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Heritage Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:HFWA) during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm acquired 275,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $8,146,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Allworth Financial LP acquired a new stake in shares of Heritage Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at $40,000. Algebris UK Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Heritage Financial in the second quarter worth $13,860,000. Great Lakes Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Heritage Financial in the second quarter worth $4,606,000. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Heritage Financial in the second quarter worth $172,125,000. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG purchased a new stake in shares of Heritage Financial during the second quarter worth $1,323,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.30% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Jeffrey S. Lyon sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.00, for a total transaction of $300,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 40,719 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,221,570. This represents a 19.72% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Matthew T. Ray sold 3,692 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.10, for a total value of $111,129.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 22,735 shares in the company, valued at $684,323.50. The trade was a 13.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 24,546 shares of company stock valued at $729,057. 1.49% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Heritage Financial Stock Up 0.5%

Heritage Financial stock opened at $29.10 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.86 and a beta of 0.50. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $29.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $27.80. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. Heritage Financial Corporation has a 1-year low of $21.32 and a 1-year high of $31.25.

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $84.12 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $86.30 million. Heritage Financial had a net margin of 20.44% and a return on equity of 8.78%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Heritage Financial Corporation will post 2.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Heritage Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 19th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 5th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.4%. This is an increase from Heritage Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 5th. Heritage Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 47.62%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on HFWA. Zacks Research raised Heritage Financial from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Stephens upped their target price on Heritage Financial from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Wall Street Zen raised Heritage Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Heritage Financial from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their price target on Heritage Financial from $34.00 to $32.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $32.50.

Heritage Financial Company Profile

Heritage Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:HFWA) is a bank holding company headquartered in Spokane, Washington. Through its primary subsidiary, Heritage Bank, the company provides a comprehensive range of banking and financial services to both individual and commercial clients. Heritage Bank’s offerings encompass deposit products, lending solutions, treasury and cash management services, mortgage banking, and wealth management, positioning the organization as a full-service community bank.

The company’s lending portfolio includes commercial real estate loans, agricultural loans, small business administration (SBA) loans, construction and development financing, and a variety of consumer mortgage products.