Matthew Ray Sells 3,692 Shares of Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) Stock

Heritage Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:HFWA) EVP Matthew Ray sold 3,692 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 22,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $684,323.50. This trade represents a 13.97% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Heritage Financial Price Performance

NASDAQ:HFWA opened at $29.74 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $29.45 and its 200 day moving average price is $27.68. The firm has a market cap of $1.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.16 and a beta of 0.50. Heritage Financial Corporation has a 52-week low of $21.32 and a 52-week high of $31.25. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17.

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.13. Heritage Financial had a net margin of 20.44% and a return on equity of 8.78%. The firm had revenue of $84.12 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $86.30 million. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Heritage Financial Corporation will post 2.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Heritage Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 19th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This is a boost from Heritage Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 5th. Heritage Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 47.62%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Heritage Financial

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Allworth Financial LP purchased a new position in Heritage Financial during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $40,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Heritage Financial by 27,871.4% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,958 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 1,951 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its position in shares of Heritage Financial by 99.1% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,875 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $69,000 after buying an additional 1,431 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Heritage Financial in the second quarter worth $95,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Heritage Financial by 12.2% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 6,519 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $193,000 after buying an additional 710 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on HFWA. Wall Street Zen raised Heritage Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 16th. Stephens raised their price objective on Heritage Financial from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Heritage Financial in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Piper Sandler cut their target price on Heritage Financial from $34.00 to $32.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Heritage Financial from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company 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.