Heritage Financial Corporation $HFWA Shares Sold by Rafferty Asset Management LLC

Rafferty Asset Management LLC lessened its stake in Heritage Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:HFWA) by 3.0% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 28,517 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 879 shares during the period. Rafferty Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Heritage Financial were worth $694,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in Heritage Financial by 45.5% in the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 147,887 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,623,000 after purchasing an additional 46,260 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Heritage Financial by 2.2% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 193,820 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,716,000 after acquiring an additional 4,101 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG grew its stake in shares of Heritage Financial by 60.1% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 29,871 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $732,000 after acquiring an additional 11,210 shares in the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Heritage Financial in the first quarter worth $844,000. Finally, Penn Capital Management Company LLC acquired a new position in shares of Heritage Financial in the first quarter worth $631,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.30% of the company’s stock.

Heritage Financial Stock Performance

NASDAQ:HFWA opened at $24.44 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $24.05 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $23.56. The company has a market cap of $829.74 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.09 and a beta of 0.56. Heritage Financial Corporation has a 52 week low of $19.84 and a 52 week high of $27.58.

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $56.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $63.54 million. Heritage Financial had a net margin of 15.22% and a return on equity of 7.34%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Heritage Financial Corporation will post 2.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Heritage Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 6th were paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 6th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.9%. Heritage Financial’s payout ratio is presently 67.13%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Heritage Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $27.67.

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.