Insider Selling: Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) CFO Sells 3,842 Shares of Stock

Heritage Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:HFWA) CFO Donald Hinson sold 3,842 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.37, for a total value of $108,997.54. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 41,241 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,170,007.17. The trade was a 8.52% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Heritage Financial Trading Up 1.4%

HFWA traded up $0.39 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $28.73. 145,380 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 282,319. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $27.07 and a two-hundred day moving average of $26.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.08 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81. Heritage Financial Corporation has a 52 week low of $21.32 and a 52 week high of $28.98.

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.02. Heritage Financial had a return on equity of 8.71% and a net margin of 20.50%.The firm had revenue of $77.92 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $80.31 million. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Heritage Financial Corporation will post 2.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Heritage Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 20th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 6th were paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 6th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. Heritage Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 47.06%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on HFWA shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded Heritage Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 16th. Piper Sandler cut their price target on Heritage Financial from $34.00 to $32.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Zacks Research downgraded Heritage Financial from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Heritage Financial from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $30.50.

Institutional Trading of Heritage Financial

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Heritage Financial by 316.9% during the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,651 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 1,255 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Heritage Financial by 27,871.4% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,958 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 1,951 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its holdings in shares of Heritage Financial by 99.1% during the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,875 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $69,000 after buying an additional 1,431 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Heritage Financial by 20.8% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,171 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $122,000 after buying an additional 891 shares during the period. Finally, CWM LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Heritage Financial by 7.7% during the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 8,249 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $195,000 after buying an additional 592 shares during the period. 78.30% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.