Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH Increases Position in Heritage Financial Corporation $HFWA

Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH increased its holdings in Heritage Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:HFWA) by 50.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 27,318 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,126 shares during the quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH owned approximately 0.08% of Heritage Financial worth $651,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. CWM LLC increased its holdings in Heritage Financial by 14.8% during the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,042 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $98,000 after purchasing an additional 520 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Heritage Financial by 53.3% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,557 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $109,000 after buying an additional 1,585 shares during the last quarter. Marshall & Sullivan Inc. WA acquired a new stake in Heritage Financial in the second quarter valued at $146,000. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT bought a new position in Heritage Financial during the 1st quarter valued at $167,000. Finally, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS bought a new position in Heritage Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at $209,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.30% of the company’s stock.

Heritage Financial Stock Down 0.9%

NASDAQ:HFWA opened at $24.25 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $23.23 and a 200-day moving average of $23.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $823.46 million, a PE ratio of 14.70 and a beta of 0.57. Heritage Financial Corporation has a 52 week low of $19.84 and a 52 week high of $27.38.

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.56. Heritage Financial had a return on equity of 8.21% and a net margin of 17.27%.The business had revenue of $65.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $65.25 million. Analysts predict that Heritage Financial Corporation will post 2.09 EPS for the current year.

Heritage Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 19th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 5th were issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 5th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.0%. Heritage Financial’s payout ratio is 58.18%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on HFWA. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Heritage Financial in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Zacks Research cut Heritage Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Wall Street Zen raised Heritage Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 15th. DA Davidson set a $29.00 price target on Heritage Financial in a report on Monday, September 29th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Heritage Financial from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $29.33.

Insider Activity at Heritage Financial

In other news, President Bryan Mcdonald purchased 19,106 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 20th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $22.32 per share, for a total transaction of $426,445.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the president owned 31,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $700,022.16. The trade was a 155.88% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.80% 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.