Sei Investments Co. Grows Stock Holdings in Heritage Financial Corporation $HFWA

Sei Investments Co. lifted its holdings in Heritage Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:HFWA) by 74.4% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 79,334 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 33,834 shares during the quarter. Sei Investments Co.’s holdings in Heritage Financial were worth $2,063,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in HFWA. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Heritage Financial by 27,871.4% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,958 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 1,951 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its holdings in Heritage Financial by 99.1% in the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,875 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 1,431 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC raised its position in Heritage Financial by 7.7% in the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 8,249 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $195,000 after purchasing an additional 592 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its stake in shares of Heritage Financial by 117.1% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 8,457 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $205,000 after purchasing an additional 4,561 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Verition Fund Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Heritage Financial in the third quarter worth about $210,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on HFWA shares. DA Davidson raised their target price on Heritage Financial from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Heritage Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Heritage Financial from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price 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. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their target price on shares of Heritage Financial from $34.00 to $32.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Heritage Financial currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $32.50.

Heritage Financial Stock Performance

NASDAQ:HFWA opened at $29.50 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $1.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.05 and a beta of 0.50. Heritage Financial Corporation has a one year low of $21.32 and a one year high of $31.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.83. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $29.22 and its 200 day simple moving average is $27.58.

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 $84.12 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $86.30 million. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Heritage Financial Corporation will post 2.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Heritage Financial Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Heritage Financial

In related news, Director Jeffrey S. Lyon sold 10,000 shares of Heritage Financial stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.00, for a total value of $300,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 40,719 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,221,570. The trade was a 19.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Kelli Ann Wilson sold 3,778 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.69, for a total transaction of $112,168.82. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 3,099 shares in the company, valued at $92,009.31. This represents a 54.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 20,854 shares of company stock worth $617,928 in the last ninety days. 1.49% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.