Insider Selling: Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA) EVP Sells 2,975 Shares of Stock

Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA) EVP Tony Chalfant sold 2,975 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.50, for a total value of $78,837.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 20,119 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $533,153.50. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Heritage Financial Stock Down 4.5 %

HFWA opened at $26.06 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $22.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $20.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.82. Heritage Financial Co. has a one year low of $16.38 and a one year high of $27.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $898.97 million, a P/E ratio of 24.13 and a beta of 0.52.

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) last posted its 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). Heritage Financial had a return on equity of 7.01% and a net margin of 12.27%. The firm had revenue of $81.65 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $58.17 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.51 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Heritage Financial Co. will post 1.65 EPS for the current year.

Heritage Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 6th will be given a $0.23 dividend. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.53%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 6th. Heritage Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 85.19%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Heritage Financial

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HFWA. US Bancorp DE increased its position in Heritage Financial by 212.4% in the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 206,776 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,009,000 after acquiring an additional 140,592 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Heritage Financial by 4.3% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,934,852 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,884,000 after purchasing an additional 80,044 shares in the last quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in Heritage Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $951,000. Boston Partners boosted its holdings in Heritage Financial by 70.5% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 112,443 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,180,000 after purchasing an additional 46,511 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. purchased a new stake in Heritage Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $557,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Piper Sandler raised their price target on Heritage Financial from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Heritage Financial from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Stephens lifted their target price on Heritage Financial from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $25.00.

About Heritage Financial

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.