6,756 Shares in Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA) Purchased by Quantbot Technologies LP

Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new stake in Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 6,756 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $166,000.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Aspire Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Heritage Financial during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $215,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Heritage Financial in the 4th quarter valued at $229,000. Ieq Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Heritage Financial in the 4th quarter worth about $274,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Heritage Financial during the 4th quarter worth about $280,000. Finally, SageView Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Heritage Financial during the third quarter worth approximately $307,000. 78.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Heritage Financial

In related news, Director Frederick B. Rivera sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.43, for a total transaction 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Jeffrey J. Deuel sold 7,033 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.66, for a total transaction of $166,400.78. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 70,906 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,677,635.96. This trade represents a 9.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 15,311 shares of company stock worth $369,193. Insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Heritage Financial Price Performance

HFWA opened at $24.14 on Monday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $24.48 and its 200-day simple moving average is $24.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $820.54 million, a P/E ratio of 19.47 and a beta of 0.53. Heritage Financial Co. has a one year low of $16.55 and a one year high of $27.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.82.

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.06. Heritage Financial had a return on equity of 7.17% and a net margin of 13.64%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Heritage Financial Co. will post 2.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Heritage Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 6th were paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 6th. This is a boost from Heritage Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.98%. Heritage Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.42%.

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.

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.