Insider Selling: Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) EVP Sells $112,168.82 in Stock

Heritage Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:HFWA) EVP Kelli Ann Wilson sold 3,778 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.69, for a total value of $112,168.82. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 3,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $92,009.31. The trade was a 54.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Heritage Financial Stock Down 1.1%

NASDAQ HFWA traded down $0.32 during trading on Thursday, hitting $29.52. The stock had a trading volume of 449,526 shares, compared to its average volume of 314,533. Heritage Financial Corporation has a 12 month low of $21.32 and a 12 month high of $31.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.83. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $28.85 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $27.32. The company has a market capitalization of $1.22 billion, a PE ratio of 14.06 and a beta of 0.49.

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $84.13 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $86.30 million. Heritage Financial had a net margin of 20.44% and a return on equity of 8.78%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Heritage Financial Corporation will post 2.37 EPS for the current year.

Heritage Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 19th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 5th will be given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.4%. This is an increase from Heritage Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 5th. Heritage Financial’s payout ratio is 45.71%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Heritage Financial

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake in Heritage Financial by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,213,473 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $83,550,000 after purchasing an additional 106,308 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Heritage Financial by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,412,325 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $57,051,000 after buying an additional 45,422 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in Heritage Financial by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,573,458 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,212,000 after buying an additional 48,765 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Heritage Financial by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 842,598 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $19,929,000 after buying an additional 4,170 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. lifted its position in shares of Heritage Financial by 163.1% in the fourth quarter. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 607,105 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $14,358,000 after buying an additional 376,368 shares during the last quarter. 78.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HFWA has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Heritage Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 16th. Stephens upped their target price on Heritage Financial from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on Heritage Financial from $34.00 to $32.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 27th. DA Davidson raised their price target on Heritage Financial from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Heritage Financial from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Heritage Financial has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $32.50.

Heritage Financial Company Profile

Heritage Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:HFWA) is a bank holding company headquartered in Spokane, Washington. Through its primary subsidiary, Heritage Bank, the company provides a comprehensive range of banking and financial services to both individual and commercial clients. Heritage Bank’s offerings encompass deposit products, lending solutions, treasury and cash management services, mortgage banking, and wealth management, positioning the organization as a full-service community bank.

The company’s lending portfolio includes commercial real estate loans, agricultural loans, small business administration (SBA) loans, construction and development financing, and a variety of consumer mortgage products.