Jennison Associates LLC Buys 465,708 Shares of Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA)

Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake in shares of Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA) by 26.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,206,766 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 465,708 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC owned 6.46% of Heritage Financial worth $54,066,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in HFWA. Nwam LLC acquired a new position in Heritage Financial during the third quarter worth $1,194,000. Barclays PLC increased its stake in shares of Heritage Financial by 105.4% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 73,300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,595,000 after purchasing an additional 37,606 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC increased its stake in shares of 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 worth $1,417,000 after purchasing an additional 20,792 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its holdings in shares of Heritage Financial by 90.7% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 34,672 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $755,000 after purchasing an additional 16,489 shares during the period. Finally, Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd acquired a new stake in Heritage Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at about $338,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Heritage Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Heritage Financial from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Stephens raised their price target on Heritage Financial from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th.

Heritage Financial Trading Down 2.3 %

Shares of HFWA stock opened at $25.11 on Tuesday. Heritage Financial Co. has a 12-month low of $16.55 and a 12-month high of $27.58. The company has a market capitalization of $857.61 million, a PE ratio of 20.25 and a beta of 0.57. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $25.04 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $23.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.06. Heritage Financial had a return on equity of 7.17% and a net margin of 13.64%. As a group, analysts predict that Heritage Financial Co. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Heritage Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 6th will be given a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.82%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 6th. This is a boost from Heritage Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. Heritage Financial’s payout ratio is presently 77.42%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Frederick B. Rivera sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.43, for a total transaction of $101,720.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 3,844 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $97,752.92. This represents a 50.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Tony Chalfant sold 2,975 shares of Heritage Financial stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.50, for a total value of $78,837.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 20,119 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $533,153.50. This represents a 12.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.