Algebris UK Ltd. Increases Stock Holdings in Heritage Financial Corporation $HFWA

Algebris UK Ltd. raised its position in shares of Heritage Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:HFWA) by 16.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 520,686 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 74,926 shares during the period. Algebris UK Ltd.’s holdings in Heritage Financial were worth $12,320,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its position in Heritage Financial by 316.9% during the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,651 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 1,255 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Heritage Financial by 27,871.4% during the second 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 period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its position in Heritage Financial by 99.1% during the second 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 period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Heritage Financial by 20.8% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,171 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $122,000 after acquiring an additional 891 shares during the period. Finally, CWM LLC grew its position in Heritage Financial by 7.7% during the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 8,249 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $195,000 after acquiring an additional 592 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.30% of the company’s stock.

Heritage Financial Trading Up 2.3%

Shares of HFWA opened at $27.17 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $26.45 and its two-hundred day moving average is $25.53. The stock has a market cap of $1.12 billion, a PE ratio of 13.32 and a beta of 0.50. Heritage Financial Corporation has a 12 month low of $21.32 and a 12 month high of $28.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81.

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $77.92 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $80.31 million. Heritage Financial had a return on equity of 8.71% and a net margin of 20.50%. Equities analysts forecast that Heritage Financial Corporation will post 2.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Heritage Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 6th were paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 6th. Heritage Financial’s payout ratio is currently 47.06%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on HFWA. Stephens boosted their price target on Heritage Financial from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Wall Street Zen raised Heritage Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th. DA Davidson boosted their price target on Heritage Financial from $29.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Weiss Ratings raised Heritage Financial from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, Zacks Research cut Heritage Financial from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $30.50.

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.