Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 400,600 shares, an increase of 8.9% from the October 31st total of 367,700 shares. Currently, 1.2% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 172,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.3 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HFWA has been the subject of several research reports. Stephens lifted their price objective on Heritage Financial from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Heritage Financial from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $25.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Tony Chalfant sold 2,975 shares of Heritage Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.50, for a total transaction of $78,837.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 20,119 shares in the company, valued at approximately $533,153.50. This trade represents a 12.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.68% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Heritage Financial

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HFWA. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Heritage Financial by 133.7% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,374 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 786 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new position in Heritage Financial during the second quarter worth approximately $25,000. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Heritage Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Point72 DIFC Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Heritage Financial during the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Heritage Financial in the 2nd quarter worth $31,000. 78.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Heritage Financial Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:HFWA traded down $0.17 on Tuesday, hitting $26.11. The company had a trading volume of 111,997 shares, compared to its average volume of 184,084. The company has a market cap of $891.66 million, a PE ratio of 24.06 and a beta of 0.55. The business has a 50 day moving average of $23.65 and a 200 day moving average of $21.31. Heritage Financial has a 52-week low of $16.55 and a 52-week high of $27.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46.

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by ($0.09). The firm had revenue of $81.65 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $58.17 million. Heritage Financial had a return on equity of 7.01% and a net margin of 12.27%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.51 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Heritage Financial will post 1.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Heritage Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 6th were paid a $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 6th. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.52%. Heritage Financial’s payout ratio is currently 85.19%.

Heritage Financial Company 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.