178,912 Shares in Heritage Financial Corporation $HFWA Purchased by Empowered Funds LLC

Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Heritage Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:HFWA) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 178,912 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $5,299,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of HFWA. Allworth Financial LP acquired a new position in shares of Heritage Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $40,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Heritage Financial by 27,871.4% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,958 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 1,951 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its stake in shares of Heritage Financial by 99.1% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,875 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $69,000 after buying an additional 1,431 shares during the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Heritage Financial in the second quarter worth $95,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Heritage Financial by 12.2% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 6,519 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $193,000 after acquiring an additional 710 shares in the last quarter. 78.30% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Heritage Financial Stock Performance

Shares of HFWA opened at $28.57 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $29.60 and a 200-day moving average of $27.86. The company has a market cap of $1.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.60 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.83. Heritage Financial Corporation has a 1 year low of $21.32 and a 1 year high of $31.25.

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $84.12 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $86.30 million. Heritage Financial had a net margin of 20.44% and a return on equity of 8.78%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Heritage Financial Corporation will post 2.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Heritage Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 19th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 5th were given a $0.25 dividend. This is a positive change from Heritage Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 5th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.5%. Heritage Financial’s payout ratio is currently 47.62%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Donald Hinson sold 3,842 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.37, for a total transaction of $108,997.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 41,241 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,170,007.17. The trade was a 8.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Jeffrey S. Lyon sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.00, for a total value of $300,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 40,719 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,221,570. This trade represents a 19.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 24,546 shares of company stock valued at $729,057 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.49% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on HFWA. DA Davidson increased their price objective on shares of Heritage Financial from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Stephens upped their target price on shares of Heritage Financial from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Heritage Financial from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Zacks Research upgraded Heritage Financial from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Heritage Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 16th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $32.50.

Heritage Financial Profile

Heritage Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:HFWA) is a bank holding company headquartered in Spokane, Washington. Through its primary subsidiary, Heritage Bank, the company provides a comprehensive range of banking and financial services to both individual and commercial clients. Heritage Bank’s offerings encompass deposit products, lending solutions, treasury and cash management services, mortgage banking, and wealth management, positioning the organization as a full-service community bank.

The company’s lending portfolio includes commercial real estate loans, agricultural loans, small business administration (SBA) loans, construction and development financing, and a variety of consumer mortgage products.