Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA) Shares Sold by Thrivent Financial for Lutherans

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans trimmed its holdings in shares of Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA) by 9.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 123,073 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 13,107 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans owned 0.36% of Heritage Financial worth $2,679,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in shares of Heritage Financial by 5.4% during the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 113,128 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,463,000 after acquiring an additional 5,762 shares in the last quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System increased its stake in Heritage Financial by 9.4% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Heritage Financial by 11.3% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 21,154 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $452,000 after buying an additional 2,154 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC lifted its stake in shares of Heritage Financial by 17.1% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,297 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $72,000 after buying an additional 481 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Heritage Financial by 43.7% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,975 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 601 shares during the period. 78.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Heritage Financial Stock Up 0.0 %

Shares of HFWA stock opened at $26.79 on Wednesday. Heritage Financial Co. has a twelve month low of $16.55 and a twelve month high of $27.58. The stock has a market cap of $914.88 million, a P/E ratio of 24.74 and a beta of 0.52. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $23.21 and a 200 day moving average of $21.03. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46.

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.42 by ($0.09). Heritage Financial had a net margin of 12.27% and a return on equity of 7.01%. The firm had revenue of $81.65 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $58.17 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.51 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Heritage Financial Co. will post 1.65 EPS for the current year.

Heritage Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 6th were given a $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 6th. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.43%. Heritage Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 85.19%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Insider Transactions at Heritage Financial

In other news, EVP Tony Chalfant sold 2,975 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.50, for a total transaction of $78,837.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 20,119 shares in the company, valued at $533,153.50. This trade represents a 12.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.68% of the company’s stock.

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.