Martin & Co. Inc. TN Takes $4.03 Million Position in Heritage Financial Corporation $HFWA

Martin & Co. Inc. TN acquired a new stake in shares of Heritage Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:HFWA) during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 136,107 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $4,031,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of HFWA. Rhino Investment Partners Inc boosted its stake in shares of Heritage Financial by 77.7% in the 1st quarter. Rhino Investment Partners Inc now owns 330,459 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,592,000 after purchasing an additional 144,515 shares in the last quarter. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. grew its holdings in shares of Heritage Financial by 163.1% during the 4th quarter. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 607,105 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $14,358,000 after purchasing an additional 376,368 shares during the last quarter. Heartland Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Heritage Financial in the 2nd quarter worth $8,146,000. Algebris UK Ltd. purchased a new position in Heritage Financial in the 2nd quarter worth $13,860,000. Finally, Great Lakes Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Heritage Financial in the second quarter worth $4,606,000. 78.30% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on HFWA. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Heritage Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th. Zacks Research upgraded Heritage Financial from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. DA Davidson boosted their target price on Heritage Financial from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Stephens boosted their target price on Heritage Financial from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $32.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Heritage Financial news, EVP Kelli Ann Wilson sold 3,778 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.69, for a total transaction of $112,168.82. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 3,099 shares in the company, valued at approximately $92,009.31. This represents a 54.94% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Donald Hinson sold 3,842 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.37, for a total value of $108,997.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 41,241 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,170,007.17. This represents a 8.52% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 24,546 shares of company stock valued at $729,057 over the last ninety days. 1.49% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Heritage Financial Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of Heritage Financial stock opened at $29.10 on Friday. 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 12-month low of $21.32 and a 12-month high of $31.25. The company has a market cap of $1.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.86 and a beta of 0.50. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $29.51 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $27.80.

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) last posted its 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. The firm had revenue of $84.12 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $86.30 million. Heritage Financial had a net margin of 20.44% and a return on equity of 8.78%. Research analysts anticipate that Heritage Financial Corporation will post 2.37 EPS for the current year.

Heritage Financial Increases Dividend

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

About Heritage Financial

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.