Rhino Investment Partners Inc Boosts Holdings in Heritage Financial Corporation $HFWA

Rhino Investment Partners Inc increased its position in shares of Heritage Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:HFWA) by 77.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 330,459 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 144,515 shares during the quarter. Heritage Financial comprises approximately 2.4% of Rhino Investment Partners Inc’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest position. Rhino Investment Partners Inc’s holdings in Heritage Financial were worth $8,592,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its stake in Heritage Financial by 2.9% during the first quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 18,381 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $478,000 after acquiring an additional 514 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC grew 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 worth $195,000 after purchasing an additional 592 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 881 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank increased its position in shares of Heritage Financial by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 67,168 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,746,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC increased its position in shares of Heritage Financial by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 15,700 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $380,000 after purchasing an additional 1,052 shares during the last quarter. 78.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on HFWA shares. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Heritage Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Heritage Financial from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Stephens boosted their price target on shares of Heritage Financial from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on shares of Heritage Financial from $34.00 to $32.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Heritage Financial from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Heritage Financial currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $32.50.

Insider Activity at Heritage Financial

In other news, CFO Donald Hinson sold 3,842 shares of the firm’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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 41,241 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,170,007.17. This trade represents a 8.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.49% of the company’s stock.

Heritage Financial Price Performance

HFWA opened at $29.89 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $28.80 and its 200 day moving average price is $27.28. Heritage Financial Corporation has a 12-month low of $21.32 and a 12-month high of $31.25. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The firm has a market cap of $1.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.23 and a beta of 0.49.

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $84.13 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $86.30 million. Heritage Financial had a return on equity of 8.78% and a net margin of 20.44%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Heritage Financial Corporation will post 2.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Heritage Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 19th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 5th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This is a boost from Heritage Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 5th. Heritage Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.71%.

Heritage Financial 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.