Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA) CFO Donald Hinson Sells 3,420 Shares

Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA) CFO Donald Hinson sold 3,420 shares of Heritage Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.59, for a total transaction of $80,677.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 42,087 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $992,832.33. This trade represents a 7.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Heritage Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ HFWA opened at $23.61 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. Heritage Financial Co. has a 12 month low of $16.55 and a 12 month high of $27.58. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $24.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $24.01. The stock has a market cap of $802.53 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.04 and a beta of 0.53.

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.06. Heritage Financial had a net margin of 13.64% and a return on equity of 7.17%. As a group, analysts predict that Heritage Financial Co. will post 2.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Heritage Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 6th were issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.07%. This is a positive change from Heritage Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 6th. Heritage Financial’s payout ratio is 77.42%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Heritage Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Heritage Financial

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in HFWA. Jennison Associates LLC increased its holdings in shares of Heritage Financial by 71.4% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,741,058 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,903,000 after purchasing an additional 725,257 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Heritage Financial by 112.5% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 369,429 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,051,000 after acquiring an additional 195,541 shares in the last quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. purchased a new stake in Heritage Financial in the 4th quarter worth $3,755,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its holdings in Heritage Financial by 357.0% in the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 143,913 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,526,000 after acquiring an additional 112,419 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Heritage Financial by 83.3% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 225,948 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,536,000 after acquiring an additional 102,665 shares in the last quarter. 78.30% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Heritage Financial Company 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.