275,000 Shares in Heritage Financial Corporation $HFWA Purchased by Heartland Advisors Inc.

Key Points

• Heartland Advisors purchased 275,000 shares of Heritage Financial in the second quarter, valued at approximately $8.15 million and representing about 0.67% of the company. Institutional investors collectively own 78.3% of HFWA.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $32.50, compared with the stock’s recent price of $29.10.
• Heritage Financial exceeded quarterly EPS expectations, reporting $0.57 versus the $0.44 consensus estimate, and raised its quarterly dividend to $0.25 per share, equivalent to a 3.4% annual yield.

Heartland Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Heritage Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:HFWA - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 275,000 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $8,146,000. Heartland Advisors Inc. owned approximately 0.67% of Heritage Financial as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of HFWA. Allworth Financial LP bought a new stake in shares of Heritage Financial during the 2nd quarter worth about $40,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Heritage Financial by 27,871.4% in the second 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 stake in shares of Heritage Financial by 99.1% during the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,875 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $69,000 after acquiring an additional 1,431 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Heritage Financial during the second quarter valued at approximately $95,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Heritage Financial by 12.2% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 6,519 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $193,000 after acquiring an additional 710 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.30% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler cut their target price on Heritage Financial from $34.00 to $32.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Heritage Financial from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Wall Street Zen raised Heritage Financial from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 16th. Zacks Research upgraded Heritage Financial from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Heritage Financial in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $32.50.

Insider Activity at Heritage Financial

In other news, Director Jeffrey S. Lyon sold 10,000 shares of Heritage Financial stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.00, for a total transaction of $300,000.00. Following the transaction, 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 SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Donald Hinson sold 3,842 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.37, for a total value of $108,997.54. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 41,241 shares in the company, valued at $1,170,007.17. The trade was a 8.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 24,546 shares of company stock worth $729,057. Insiders own 1.49% of the company's stock.

Heritage Financial Stock Performance

Shares of HFWA opened at $29.10 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $29.51 and a two-hundred day moving average of $27.80. The stock has a market cap of $1.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.86 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.83. Heritage Financial Corporation has a one year low of $21.32 and a one year high of $31.25.

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.44 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $84.12 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $86.30 million. Heritage Financial had a net margin of 20.44% and a return on equity of 8.78%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Heritage Financial Corporation will post 2.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Heritage Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 19th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 5th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 5th. This is a positive change from Heritage Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Heritage Financial's dividend payout ratio is presently 47.62%.

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.

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