Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) Director Frederick Rivera Sells 1,300 Shares of Stock

Heritage Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:HFWA) Director Frederick Rivera sold 1,300 shares of Heritage Financial stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.57, for a total transaction of $37,141.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 5,890 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $168,277.30. This trade represents a 18.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Heritage Financial Price Performance

Shares of HFWA opened at $28.51 on Wednesday. Heritage Financial Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $21.32 and a fifty-two week high of $31.25. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $29.45 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $27.93. The stock has a market cap of $1.17 billion, a PE ratio of 13.58 and a beta of 0.48. 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 (NASDAQ:HFWA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.13. Heritage Financial had a net margin of 20.44% and a return on equity of 8.78%. The firm had revenue of $84.12 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $86.30 million. Analysts anticipate that Heritage Financial Corporation will post 2.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.5%. This is a boost from Heritage Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 5th. Heritage Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 47.62%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HFWA has been the subject of several analyst reports. DA Davidson raised their price target on shares of Heritage Financial from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Heritage Financial in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Heritage Financial from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Zacks Research raised Heritage Financial from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Stephens boosted their price target on Heritage Financial from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Heritage Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $32.50.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Heritage Financial

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in HFWA. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Heritage Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at $172,125,000. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. purchased a new stake in shares of Heritage Financial in the 2nd quarter worth $20,408,000. Algebris UK Ltd. bought a new position in Heritage Financial in the 2nd quarter worth $13,860,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in Heritage Financial in the 2nd quarter worth $11,817,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company purchased a new position in Heritage Financial during the second quarter valued at $9,142,000. 78.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Heritage Financial Company Profile

Heritage Financial Corporation (NASDAQ: HFWA) is a bank holding company headquartered in Olympia, Washington. Through its principal subsidiary, Heritage Bank, the company provides a range of banking and financial services to businesses, individuals, and organizations in communities across Washington and Oregon.

Heritage Bank’s offerings include commercial and industrial lending, commercial real estate and construction loans, residential real estate financing, consumer loans, deposit accounts, cash-management services, online and mobile banking, and other treasury-management solutions.