Insider Selling: Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) EVP Sells 1,900 Shares of Stock

Heritage Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:HFWA) EVP Kelli Ann Wilson sold 1,900 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.48, for a total value of $50,312.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 3,778 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $100,041.44. This represents a 33.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

Heritage Financial Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of HFWA traded down $0.23 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $26.35. 352,903 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 266,938. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $24.42 and a 200-day moving average price of $23.95. The company has a market cap of $894.85 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.44 and a beta of 0.52. Heritage Financial Corporation has a 1-year low of $19.84 and a 1-year high of $28.35. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05.

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $66.35 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $65.95 million. Heritage Financial had a return on equity of 8.61% and a net margin of 20.10%. Research analysts expect that Heritage Financial Corporation will post 2.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Heritage Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 11th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 28th will be given a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 28th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.6%. Heritage Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.98%.

Institutional Trading of Heritage Financial

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its holdings in Heritage Financial by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 20,060 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $488,000 after acquiring an additional 881 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in shares of Heritage Financial by 4.2% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 123,798 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,012,000 after purchasing an additional 4,947 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its position in shares of Heritage Financial by 7.4% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 78,130 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,901,000 after purchasing an additional 5,417 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC increased its holdings in Heritage Financial by 437.3% in the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 107,482 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,615,000 after buying an additional 87,479 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Heritage Financial by 53.3% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,557 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $109,000 after buying an additional 1,585 shares in the last quarter. 78.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Stephens boosted their target price on shares of Heritage Financial from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Heritage Financial from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Zacks Research cut shares of Heritage Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 25th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Heritage Financial in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Heritage Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $30.25.

Heritage Financial Company Profile

Heritage Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:HFWA) is a bank holding company headquartered in Spokane, Washington. Through its primary subsidiary, Heritage Bank, the company provides a comprehensive range of banking and financial services to both individual and commercial clients. Heritage Bank’s offerings encompass deposit products, lending solutions, treasury and cash management services, mortgage banking, and wealth management, positioning the organization as a full-service community bank.

The company’s lending portfolio includes commercial real estate loans, agricultural loans, small business administration (SBA) loans, construction and development financing, and a variety of consumer mortgage products.