Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Has $50.67 Million Stock Position in Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA - Free Report) by 1.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,068,354 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 33,429 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned approximately 6.06% of Heritage Financial worth $50,674,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of HFWA. Sterling Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Heritage Financial by 794.1% in the fourth 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 during the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new stake in Heritage Financial in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $157,000. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in Heritage Financial in the 4th quarter worth approximately $166,000. Zions Bancorporation N.A. acquired a new position in shares of Heritage Financial during the fourth quarter worth approximately $168,000. Finally, Aspire Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Heritage Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $215,000. Institutional investors own 78.30% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on HFWA shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on shares of Heritage Financial from $27.00 to $26.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 28th. StockNews.com raised shares of Heritage Financial from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their target price on Heritage Financial from $34.00 to $31.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 28th.

Insider Activity at Heritage Financial

In other news, CFO Donald Hinson sold 3,420 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.59, for a total value of $80,677.80. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 42,087 shares in the company, valued at approximately $992,832.33. The trade was a 7.52 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Jeffrey J. Deuel sold 7,033 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.66, for a total transaction of $166,400.78. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 70,906 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,677,635.96. This trade represents a 9.02 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 11,311 shares of company stock valued at $267,473 in the last 90 days. 1.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Heritage Financial Trading Up 2.3 %

Shares of Heritage Financial stock opened at $23.58 on Friday. The company's fifty day moving average price is $23.15 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $24.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $801.51 million, a PE ratio of 19.02 and a beta of 0.47. Heritage Financial Co. has a 52-week low of $16.55 and a 52-week high of $27.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.82.

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

Heritage Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 21st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 7th will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 7th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.07%. Heritage Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.86%.

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.

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