Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) Director Sells $300,000.00 in Stock

Heritage Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:HFWA) Director Jeffrey Lyon sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.00, for a total value of $300,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 40,719 shares in the company, valued at $1,221,570. This represents a 19.72% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Heritage Financial Trading Down 1.7%

HFWA traded down $0.52 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $30.01. 362,155 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 316,818. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $29.07 and its two-hundred day moving average is $27.48. Heritage Financial Corporation has a 1-year low of $21.32 and a 1-year high of $31.25. The company has a market cap of $1.24 billion, a PE ratio of 14.29 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17.

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $84.13 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $86.30 million. Heritage Financial had a return on equity of 8.78% and a net margin of 20.44%. Equities analysts forecast that Heritage Financial Corporation will post 2.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Heritage Financial Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on HFWA. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Heritage Financial from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Heritage Financial in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Wall Street Zen raised Heritage Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th. Zacks Research upgraded Heritage Financial from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their target price on Heritage Financial from $34.00 to $32.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 27th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Heritage Financial currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $32.50.

Institutional Trading of Heritage Financial

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. 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 increased its holdings in Heritage Financial by 4.2% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 123,798 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,012,000 after buying an additional 4,947 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its holdings in Heritage Financial by 7.4% in 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 valued at $1,901,000 after buying an additional 5,417 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC raised its stake 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 in the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Heritage Financial by 27,871.4% in the second 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.30% of the company’s stock.

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.