Alliancebernstein L.P. Has $36.67 Million Stake in Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA)

Alliancebernstein L.P. reduced its position in Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA) by 13.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,496,664 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 231,056 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P.’s holdings in Heritage Financial were worth $36,668,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its stake in shares of Heritage Financial by 90.7% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 34,672 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $755,000 after buying an additional 16,489 shares in the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Heritage Financial by 35.6% in the 3rd quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 16,171 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $352,000 after acquiring an additional 4,242 shares during the last quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Heritage Financial in the 3rd quarter worth about $307,000. State Street Corp lifted its position in Heritage Financial by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,594,963 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,722,000 after acquiring an additional 4,012 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC boosted its stake in Heritage Financial by 46.9% during the 3rd quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 65,088 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,417,000 after purchasing an additional 20,792 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.30% of the company’s stock.

Heritage Financial Stock Performance

NASDAQ HFWA opened at $21.49 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $24.35 and a 200-day moving average price of $24.16. Heritage Financial Co. has a 1 year low of $16.55 and a 1 year high of $27.58. The firm has a market cap of $730.47 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.33 and a beta of 0.47.

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.06. Heritage Financial had a net margin of 13.64% and a return on equity of 7.17%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Heritage Financial Co. will post 2.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Heritage Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 6th were issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This is a positive change from Heritage Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.47%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 6th. Heritage Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 77.42%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Frederick B. Rivera sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.43, for a total transaction of $101,720.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 3,844 shares in the company, valued at approximately $97,752.92. This trade represents a 50.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Jeffrey J. Deuel sold 7,033 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.66, for a total transaction of $166,400.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 70,906 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,677,635.96. The trade was a 9.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 15,311 shares of company stock valued at $369,193. Insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded Heritage Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th.

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.