Principal Financial Group Inc. Lowers Stock Position in Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA)

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its holdings in Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA) by 4.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 183,968 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 9,002 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.53% of Heritage Financial worth $4,005,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Heritage Financial by 133.7% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,374 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 786 shares during the period. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Heritage Financial in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in Heritage Financial during the second quarter valued at $27,000. Point72 DIFC Ltd purchased a new position in Heritage Financial during the second quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Heritage Financial in the second quarter worth $31,000. 78.30% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Heritage Financial

In other Heritage Financial news, EVP Tony Chalfant sold 2,975 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.50, for a total value of $78,837.50. Following the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HFWA has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Heritage Financial from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Heritage Financial from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Stephens increased their price target on shares of 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 assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $25.00.

Heritage Financial Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:HFWA opened at $25.79 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $23.02 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $20.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.82. The firm has a market cap of $880.73 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.88 and a beta of 0.52. Heritage Financial Co. has a fifty-two week low of $16.55 and a fifty-two week high of $27.55.

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

Heritage Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 6th were given a dividend of $0.23 per share. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 6th. Heritage Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 85.19%.

Heritage Financial 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.