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 stock was sold at an average price of $23.77, for a total transaction of $20,394.66. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 24,353 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $578,870.81. This trade represents a 3.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Heritage Financial Stock Performance

Shares of HFWA stock opened at $23.61 on Wednesday. Heritage Financial Co. has a 12 month low of $16.55 and a 12 month high of $27.58. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $802.53 million, a P/E ratio of 19.04 and a beta of 0.53. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $24.47 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $24.01.

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%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Heritage Financial Co. will post 2.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Heritage Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 6th were issued a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 6th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.07%. This is a positive change from Heritage Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. Heritage Financial’s payout ratio is currently 77.42%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Heritage Financial

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in Heritage Financial by 105.4% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 73,300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,595,000 after buying an additional 37,606 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Heritage Financial in the 4th quarter valued at about $280,000. Jane Street Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Heritage Financial by 46.9% in 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 in the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Heritage Financial in the 4th quarter valued at about $274,000. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC raised its stake in shares of Heritage Financial by 71.4% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,741,058 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,903,000 after purchasing an additional 725,257 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.30% of the company’s stock.

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.