Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA) Position Cut by Martin & Co. Inc. TN

Martin & Co. Inc. TN trimmed its stake in Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA) by 4.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 130,846 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 5,648 shares during the quarter. Martin & Co. Inc. TN owned approximately 0.38% of Heritage Financial worth $3,206,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. CWM LLC lifted its stake in Heritage Financial by 17.1% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,297 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $72,000 after buying an additional 481 shares during the last quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of Heritage Financial by 9.4% during the third quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 5,796 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $126,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Heritage Financial by 0.4% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 123,283 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,684,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Heritage Financial by 11.3% during the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 21,154 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $452,000 after purchasing an additional 2,154 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Heritage Financial by 0.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,594,963 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,722,000 after purchasing an additional 4,012 shares during the period. 78.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Frederick B. Rivera sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.43, for a total value of $101,720.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 3,844 shares in the company, valued at approximately $97,752.92. The trade was a 50.99 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 1.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Heritage Financial Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of HFWA opened at $24.25 on Monday. Heritage Financial Co. has a 1-year low of $16.55 and a 1-year high of $27.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $828.14 million, a P/E ratio of 19.56 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $24.78 and its 200 day moving average price is $23.67.

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.06. Heritage Financial had a return on equity of 7.17% and a net margin of 13.64%. Analysts expect that Heritage Financial Co. will post 2.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Heritage Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.96%. This is a positive change from Heritage Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 6th. Heritage Financial’s payout ratio is currently 77.42%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on HFWA shares. Stephens raised their price target on Heritage Financial from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. StockNews.com raised Heritage Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Heritage Financial from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th.

Heritage Financial Profile

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.