Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA) Short Interest Update

Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 467,800 shares, an increase of 12.8% from the December 31st total of 414,900 shares. Approximately 1.4% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 178,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.6 days.

Heritage Financial Price Performance

HFWA stock traded down $0.59 during trading on Monday, reaching $25.11. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 190,690 shares, compared to its average volume of 187,890. The company’s fifty day moving average is $25.04 and its 200-day moving average is $23.50. Heritage Financial has a 1 year low of $16.55 and a 1 year high of $27.58. The company has a market capitalization of $857.51 million, a P/E ratio of 20.25 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.06. Heritage Financial had a net margin of 13.64% and a return on equity of 7.17%. On average, research analysts expect that Heritage Financial will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Heritage Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This is an increase from Heritage Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 6th. Heritage Financial’s payout ratio is presently 74.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Heritage Financial

In related news, EVP Tony Chalfant sold 2,975 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.50, for a total transaction of $78,837.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 20,119 shares in the company, valued at $533,153.50. This represents a 12.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Frederick B. Rivera sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.43, for a total value of $101,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 3,844 shares in the company, valued at approximately $97,752.92. The trade was a 50.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.68% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Heritage Financial

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Ieq Capital LLC acquired a new position in Heritage Financial during the fourth quarter worth about $274,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Heritage Financial by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 189,719 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,648,000 after buying an additional 5,751 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its position in shares of Heritage Financial by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 118,851 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,912,000 after purchasing an additional 5,723 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Heritage Financial by 18.0% during the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 24,968 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $607,000 after acquiring an additional 3,814 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC raised its stake in Heritage Financial by 26.7% during the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,206,766 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $54,066,000 after acquiring an additional 465,708 shares in the last quarter. 78.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on HFWA. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Heritage Financial from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. 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. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Heritage Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th.

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.