Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC Buys 11,385 Shares of Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA)

Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC raised its stake in Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA) by 96.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 23,129 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 11,385 shares during the quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC owned about 0.07% of Heritage Financial worth $567,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Heritage Financial by 794.1% in the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,064 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 945 shares in the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new position in Heritage Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $157,000. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in Heritage Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $166,000. Zions Bancorporation N.A. bought a new position in Heritage Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $168,000. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp bought a new position in Heritage Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $205,000. Institutional investors own 78.30% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Heritage Financial news, CEO Jeffrey J. Deuel sold 7,033 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.66, for a total transaction of $166,400.78. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 70,906 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,677,635.96. This represents a 9.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Donald Hinson sold 3,420 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.59, for a total transaction of $80,677.80. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 42,087 shares in the company, valued at $992,832.33. This trade represents a 7.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 11,311 shares of company stock valued at $267,473. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on HFWA shares. StockNews.com raised shares of Heritage Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on shares of Heritage Financial from $34.00 to $31.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on shares of Heritage Financial from $27.00 to $26.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 28th.

Heritage Financial Stock Performance

Shares of HFWA stock opened at $24.29 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $23.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is $24.31. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The firm has a market cap of $828.43 million, a PE ratio of 19.59 and a beta of 0.53. Heritage Financial Co. has a 12 month low of $16.55 and a 12 month high of $27.58.

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.03. Heritage Financial had a net margin of 13.64% and a return on equity of 7.17%. The firm had revenue of $57.59 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $61.74 million. Equities research analysts expect that Heritage Financial Co. will post 2.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Heritage Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 21st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 7th will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.95%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 7th. Heritage Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 64.86%.

Heritage Financial Company Profile

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.