Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA) Shares Sold by Thrivent Financial for Lutherans

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lessened its holdings in shares of Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA) by 75.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 30,654 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 92,419 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans owned approximately 0.09% of Heritage Financial worth $751,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Aspire Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Heritage Financial during the 4th quarter worth $215,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Heritage Financial during the fourth quarter worth about $229,000. Ieq Capital LLC acquired a new position in Heritage Financial during the fourth quarter worth about $274,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Heritage Financial in the fourth quarter valued at about $280,000. Finally, SageView Advisory Group LLC purchased a new position in Heritage Financial in the third quarter valued at about $307,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.30% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Heritage Financial

In other news, CEO Jeffrey J. Deuel sold 7,033 shares of Heritage Financial stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.66, for a total value of $166,400.78. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 70,906 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,677,635.96. The trade was a 9.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Frederick B. Rivera sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.43, for a total value of $101,720.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 15,311 shares of company stock valued at $369,193 over the last three months. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Heritage Financial Trading Up 0.8 %

NASDAQ:HFWA opened at $24.50 on Thursday. Heritage Financial Co. has a 52-week low of $16.55 and a 52-week high of $27.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $24.46 and a 200-day simple moving average of $24.16. The company has a market capitalization of $832.78 million, a PE ratio of 19.76 and a beta of 0.53.

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 business 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. This is an increase from Heritage Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 6th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.92%. Heritage Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.