Short Interest in Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA) Grows By 8.9%

Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA) was the target of a large increase in short interest in the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 400,600 shares, an increase of 8.9% from the October 31st total of 367,700 shares. Approximately 1.2% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 172,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.3 days.

Heritage Financial Stock Performance

Shares of HFWA opened at $26.11 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $23.65 and a 200-day simple moving average of $21.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.82. Heritage Financial has a 1 year low of $16.55 and a 1 year high of $27.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $891.66 million, a PE ratio of 24.18 and a beta of 0.55.

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by ($0.09). The firm had revenue of $81.65 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $58.17 million. Heritage Financial had a net margin of 12.27% and a return on equity of 7.01%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.51 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Heritage Financial will post 1.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Heritage Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 6th were given a dividend of $0.23 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 6th. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.52%. Heritage Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 85.19%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on HFWA. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Heritage Financial from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Stephens lifted their price objective on shares of Heritage Financial from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $25.00.

Insider Activity

In other Heritage Financial news, EVP Tony Chalfant sold 2,975 shares of Heritage Financial stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.50, for a total value of $78,837.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 20,119 shares in the company, valued at $533,153.50. The trade was a 12.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.68% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Heritage Financial

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Heritage Financial by 133.7% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,374 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 786 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Heritage Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Heritage Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Point72 DIFC Ltd acquired a new stake in Heritage Financial during the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Heritage Financial in the second quarter valued at $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.30% of the company’s stock.

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.