Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA) Stake Cut by Fmr LLC

Fmr LLC decreased its holdings in Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA) by 47.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,209 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,865 shares during the period. Fmr LLC’s holdings in Heritage Financial were worth $92,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in HFWA. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new position in Heritage Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Great Lakes Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Heritage Financial by 5.4% during the second quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC now owns 220,644 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,978,000 after acquiring an additional 11,318 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Heritage Financial during the second quarter valued at $325,000. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp grew its stake in Heritage Financial by 60.0% in the second quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 48,874 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $881,000 after purchasing an additional 18,325 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased 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 worth $5,013,000 after purchasing an additional 8,112 shares during the last quarter. 78.30% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Heritage Financial Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of HFWA stock opened at $24.22 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $827.21 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.43 and a beta of 0.55. 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 stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $24.90 and its 200 day simple moving average is $22.05. Heritage Financial Co. has a twelve month low of $16.55 and a twelve month high of $27.58.

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by ($0.09). The firm had revenue of $81.65 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 in the previous year, the business posted $0.51 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Heritage Financial Co. will post 1.65 EPS for the current year.

Heritage Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 6th were paid a $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 6th. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.80%. Heritage Financial’s payout ratio is presently 85.19%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on HFWA shares. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Heritage Financial from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Stephens boosted their target price on shares of Heritage Financial from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $25.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Tony Chalfant sold 2,975 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.50, for a total transaction of $78,837.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 20,119 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $533,153.50. The trade was a 12.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.