The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Has $6.30 Million Stock Holdings in Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company reduced its stake in Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA) by 0.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 349,230 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 679 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned 1.01% of Heritage Financial worth $6,297,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in HFWA. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Heritage Financial by 4.3% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,934,852 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,884,000 after buying an additional 80,044 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC acquired a new position in shares of Heritage Financial during the first quarter worth approximately $14,612,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Heritage Financial by 5.6% in the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 321,089 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,789,000 after purchasing an additional 17,100 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in Heritage Financial by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 278,017 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,013,000 after purchasing an additional 8,112 shares during the period. Finally, Kiley Juergens Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Heritage Financial by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Kiley Juergens Wealth Management LLC now owns 239,596 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,646,000 after purchasing an additional 1,741 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.30% of the company’s stock.

Heritage Financial Stock Performance

Shares of HFWA stock opened at $21.13 on Friday. Heritage Financial Co. has a one year low of $15.50 and a one year high of $23.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $21.89 and a 200-day moving average of $19.60. The company has a market cap of $733.00 million, a P/E ratio of 15.89 and a beta of 0.53.

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.04. Heritage Financial had a net margin of 14.59% and a return on equity of 7.95%. The company had revenue of $56.36 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $58.27 million. Equities research analysts forecast that Heritage Financial Co. will post 1.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Heritage Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 21st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 7th were paid a $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 7th. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.35%. Heritage Financial’s payout ratio is presently 69.17%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HFWA has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Heritage Financial from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Heritage Financial from $23.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $23.50.

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.