Capital Square LLC Takes $1.70 Million Position in Heritage Financial Corporation $HFWA

Capital Square LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Heritage Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:HFWA) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 184,847 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,697,000.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of HFWA. Allworth Financial LP purchased a new position in Heritage Financial in the 2nd quarter worth about $40,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Heritage Financial by 27,871.4% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,958 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 1,951 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its holdings in shares of Heritage Financial by 99.1% during the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,875 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $69,000 after acquiring an additional 1,431 shares during the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Heritage Financial in the second quarter worth approximately $95,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Heritage Financial by 12.2% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 6,519 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $193,000 after acquiring an additional 710 shares during the period. 78.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Tony Chalfant sold 3,234 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.92, for a total transaction of $96,761.28. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 20,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $609,231.04. The trade was a 13.71% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Donald Hinson sold 3,842 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.37, for a total value of $108,997.54. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 41,241 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,170,007.17. This trade represents a 8.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 24,546 shares of company stock valued at $729,057. 1.49% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Heritage Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:HFWA opened at $29.10 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $29.51 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $27.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.86 and a beta of 0.50. Heritage Financial Corporation has a 52-week low of $21.32 and a 52-week high of $31.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.83.

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $84.12 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $86.30 million. Heritage Financial had a net margin of 20.44% and a return on equity of 8.78%. Analysts expect 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 was paid on Wednesday, August 19th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 5th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This is an increase from Heritage Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 5th. Heritage Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.62%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HFWA has been the subject of several research reports. Zacks Research raised shares of Heritage Financial from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. DA Davidson raised their target price on shares of Heritage Financial from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Piper Sandler cut their target price on shares of Heritage Financial from $34.00 to $32.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Heritage Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 16th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Heritage Financial from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Heritage Financial currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $32.50.

About Heritage Financial

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.