Insider Buying: Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) President Acquires $426,445.92 in Stock

Heritage Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:HFWA) President Bryan Mcdonald purchased 19,106 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 20th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $22.32 per share, for a total transaction of $426,445.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the president directly owned 31,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $700,022.16. This trade represents a 155.88% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Heritage Financial Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of NASDAQ HFWA opened at $24.25 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. Heritage Financial Corporation has a one year low of $19.84 and a one year high of $27.38. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $23.25 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $23.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $823.46 million, a PE ratio of 14.70 and a beta of 0.57.

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56. The company had revenue of $65.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $65.25 million. Heritage Financial had a return on equity of 8.21% and a net margin of 17.27%. As a group, analysts predict that Heritage Financial Corporation will post 2.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Heritage Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 19th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 5th were given a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 5th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.0%. Heritage Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 58.18%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Heritage Financial

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of HFWA. Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its position in shares of Heritage Financial by 316.9% in the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,651 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 1,255 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Heritage Financial by 27,871.4% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,958 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 1,951 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted 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 worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 1,431 shares during the period. CWM LLC boosted its position in Heritage Financial by 14.8% during the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,042 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $98,000 after purchasing an additional 520 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Heritage Financial by 53.3% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,557 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $109,000 after purchasing an additional 1,585 shares during the last quarter. 78.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on HFWA shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Heritage Financial in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Heritage Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 15th. DA Davidson set a $29.00 target price on Heritage Financial in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Zacks Research raised Heritage Financial from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Heritage Financial from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Heritage Financial currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $29.33.

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.