Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA) Director Sells $20,394.66 in Stock

Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA) Director Amy E. Curran sold 858 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.77, for a total transaction of $20,394.66. Following the transaction, the director now owns 24,353 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $578,870.81. The trade was a 3.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

Heritage Financial Stock Down 0.1 %

HFWA opened at $23.65 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $24.46 and its 200-day simple moving average is $24.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.84. Heritage Financial Co. has a twelve month low of $16.55 and a twelve month high of $27.58. The firm has a market cap of $803.89 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.07 and a beta of 0.53.

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

Heritage Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 6th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 6th. This is an increase from Heritage Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.06%. Heritage Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 77.42%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Heritage Financial by 794.1% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,064 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 945 shares during the period. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. lifted its position in Heritage Financial by 519.0% during the 4th quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 3,553 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $87,000 after purchasing an additional 2,979 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lifted its position in Heritage Financial by 475.6% during the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 3,989 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $98,000 after purchasing an additional 3,296 shares during the period. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new stake in shares of Heritage Financial in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $157,000. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new stake in shares of Heritage Financial in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $166,000. 78.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.