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

Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA) was the target of a large decrease in short interest during the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 576,400 shares, a decrease of 11.2% from the January 15th total of 649,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 196,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.9 days. Currently, 1.7% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on HFWA. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Heritage Financial from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Stephens boosted their price target on Heritage Financial from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Heritage Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th.

Heritage Financial Price Performance

Shares of Heritage Financial stock traded up $0.20 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $24.45. The stock had a trading volume of 167,061 shares, compared to its average volume of 185,199. Heritage Financial has a twelve month low of $16.55 and a twelve month high of $27.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $835.10 million, a PE ratio of 19.72 and a beta of 0.56. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $24.71 and its 200 day moving average is $23.69.

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 analysts expect that Heritage Financial will post 2.09 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 Thursday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 6th will be given 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 of this dividend is Thursday, February 6th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.93%. Heritage Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 77.42%.

Insider Transactions at Heritage Financial

In related news, Director Frederick B. Rivera sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.43, for a total transaction of $101,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,844 shares in the company, valued at $97,752.92. The trade was 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 this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Heritage Financial

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HFWA. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Heritage Financial in the third quarter worth approximately $234,000. CWM LLC raised its position in Heritage Financial by 17.1% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,297 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $72,000 after purchasing an additional 481 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Heritage Financial by 11.3% during the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 21,154 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $452,000 after purchasing an additional 2,154 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System increased its position in shares of Heritage Financial by 9.4% during the 3rd quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 5,796 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $126,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in Heritage Financial by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 113,128 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,463,000 after buying an additional 5,762 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.30% of the company’s stock.

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.