Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) EVP Kelli Ann Wilson Sells 3,778 Shares

Heritage Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:HFWA) EVP Kelli Ann Wilson sold 3,778 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.69, for a total value of $112,168.82. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 3,099 shares in the company, valued at approximately $92,009.31. This represents a 54.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Heritage Financial Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:HFWA opened at $29.52 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $1.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.06 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. Heritage Financial Corporation has a 52 week low of $21.32 and a 52 week high of $31.25. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $28.90 and a 200-day simple moving average of $27.36.

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.13. Heritage Financial had a return on equity of 8.78% and a net margin of 20.44%.The firm had revenue of $84.13 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $86.30 million. Equities research analysts forecast that Heritage Financial Corporation will post 2.37 EPS for the current year.

Heritage Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 19th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 5th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. This is an increase from Heritage Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Heritage Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.62%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Jennison Associates LLC increased its position in shares of Heritage Financial by 3.4% in the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,213,473 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $83,550,000 after acquiring an additional 106,308 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Heritage Financial by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,412,325 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $57,051,000 after acquiring an additional 45,422 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in Heritage Financial by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,573,458 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,212,000 after purchasing an additional 48,765 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Heritage Financial by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 842,598 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $19,929,000 after purchasing an additional 4,170 shares during the period. Finally, Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. increased its holdings in Heritage Financial by 163.1% in the 4th quarter. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 607,105 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $14,358,000 after purchasing an additional 376,368 shares in the last quarter. 78.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HFWA has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Stephens boosted their target price on shares of Heritage Financial from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of Heritage Financial from $34.00 to $32.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Heritage Financial from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Heritage Financial in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Heritage Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 16th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $32.50.

Heritage Financial Company 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.