153,259 Shares in Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA) Purchased by Deprince Race & Zollo Inc.

Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. bought a new stake in Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 153,259 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $3,755,000. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. owned approximately 0.45% of Heritage Financial as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of HFWA. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Heritage Financial by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 123,283 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,684,000 after buying an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Heritage Financial by 794.1% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,064 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 945 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in shares of Heritage Financial by 6.8% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 29,901 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $733,000 after purchasing an additional 1,914 shares in the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Heritage Financial by 10.2% during the fourth quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 20,710 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $507,000 after purchasing an additional 1,917 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Keybank National Association OH grew its position in Heritage Financial by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 49,841 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,221,000 after buying an additional 2,477 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.30% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HFWA has been the subject of a number of research reports. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on Heritage Financial from $34.00 to $31.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 28th. StockNews.com upgraded Heritage Financial from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of Heritage Financial from $27.00 to $26.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 28th.

Heritage Financial Stock Down 0.4%

HFWA traded down $0.10 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $24.11. 49,330 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 210,332. Heritage Financial Co. has a 1 year low of $16.55 and a 1 year high of $27.58. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $23.00 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $24.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $822.30 million, a PE ratio of 19.44 and a beta of 0.53.

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.03. Heritage Financial had a return on equity of 7.17% and a net margin of 13.64%. The company had revenue of $57.59 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $61.74 million. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Heritage Financial Co. will post 2.09 EPS for the current year.

Heritage Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 21st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 7th will be given a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.98%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 7th. Heritage Financial's dividend payout ratio is currently 64.86%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Heritage Financial

In related news, CEO Jeffrey J. Deuel sold 7,033 shares of Heritage Financial stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.66, for a total value of $166,400.78. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 70,906 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,677,635.96. This trade represents a 9.02% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Donald Hinson sold 3,420 shares of Heritage Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.59, for a total transaction of $80,677.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 42,087 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $992,832.33. This trade represents a 7.52% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 11,311 shares of company stock valued at $267,473. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Heritage Financial

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.