Proficio Capital Partners LLC Buys Shares of 11,417 Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 11,417 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $280,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Aspire Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Heritage Financial during the 4th quarter valued at $215,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Heritage Financial in the 4th quarter valued at about $229,000. Ieq Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Heritage Financial during the fourth quarter valued at about $274,000. SageView Advisory Group LLC bought a new position in Heritage Financial during the third quarter worth about $307,000. Finally, Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd bought a new position in Heritage Financial in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $338,000. 78.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded Heritage Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Donald Hinson sold 3,420 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.59, for a total value of $80,677.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 42,087 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $992,832.33. This trade represents a 7.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Jeffrey J. Deuel sold 7,033 shares of Heritage Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.66, for a total value of $166,400.78. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 70,906 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,677,635.96. The trade was a 9.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 15,311 shares of company stock valued at $369,193 in the last quarter. Insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Heritage Financial Stock Performance

Heritage Financial stock opened at $24.17 on Thursday. Heritage Financial Co. has a fifty-two week low of $16.55 and a fifty-two week high of $27.58. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $24.48 and its 200-day moving average price is $24.07. The stock has a market cap of $821.56 million, a P/E ratio of 19.49 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.84.

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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, equities research analysts expect that Heritage Financial Co. will post 2.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Heritage Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 6th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 6th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.97%. This is a boost from Heritage Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. Heritage Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 77.42%.

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.