SG Americas Securities LLC Takes Position in Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA)

SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 10,743 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $234,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HFWA. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Heritage Financial by 133.7% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,374 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 786 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new position in Heritage Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in Heritage Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Point72 DIFC Ltd purchased a new position in Heritage Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Heritage Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.30% of the company’s stock.

Heritage Financial Stock Down 5.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:HFWA opened at $21.49 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $21.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $19.84. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The company has a market capitalization of $745.49 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.17 and a beta of 0.53. Heritage Financial Co. has a 12-month low of $15.50 and a 12-month high of $23.82.

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $56.36 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $58.27 million. Heritage Financial had a return on equity of 7.95% and a net margin of 14.59%. Sell-side analysts expect that Heritage Financial Co. will post 1.66 EPS for the current year.

Heritage Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 21st. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 7th were given a dividend of $0.23 per share. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 7th. Heritage Financial’s payout ratio is 69.17%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on HFWA. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Heritage Financial from $23.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. 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 report on Friday, July 26th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Heritage Financial has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $23.50.

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.