Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Acquires Shares of 34,684 Heritage Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:HFWA)

Key Points

• Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired 34,684 shares of Heritage Financial Corporation for about $844,000 in the first quarter, representing 0.10% ownership.
• The company reported earnings of $0.53 per share, exceeding analyst expectations of $0.50, but its revenue of $56.50 million fell short of the anticipated $63.54 million.
• Heritage Financial has announced a quarterly dividend of $0.24 per share, yielding 4.10%, with the dividend payout ratio currently at 64.86%.

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in Heritage Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:HFWA - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 34,684 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $844,000. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd owned 0.10% of Heritage Financial at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Heritage Financial by 24.7% in the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,752,114 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $66,959,000 after purchasing an additional 545,348 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Heritage Financial by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,068,354 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $50,674,000 after purchasing an additional 33,429 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Heritage Financial by 15,727.7% in the first quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,480,997 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $36,033,000 after purchasing an additional 1,471,640 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Heritage Financial by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 433,678 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $10,625,000 after purchasing an additional 6,201 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in shares of Heritage Financial by 12.1% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 433,296 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $10,616,000 after purchasing an additional 46,769 shares in the last quarter. 78.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Heritage Financial Stock Up 0.2%

HFWA traded up $0.04 on Tuesday, hitting $23.53. 22,918 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 224,405. Heritage Financial Corporation has a 12 month low of $19.84 and a 12 month high of $27.58. The company has a market cap of $802.51 million, a PE ratio of 16.44 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.85. The stock's fifty day moving average is $23.94 and its 200-day moving average is $23.83.

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.03. Heritage Financial had a return on equity of 7.34% and a net margin of 15.22%. The business had revenue of $56.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $63.54 million. Equities research analysts predict that Heritage Financial Corporation will post 2.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Heritage Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 6th will be paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 6th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.08%. Heritage Financial's dividend payout ratio is 67.13%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HFWA has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wall Street Zen lowered Heritage Financial from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on Heritage Financial from $27.00 to $26.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their target price on Heritage Financial from $34.00 to $31.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 28th.

Heritage Financial Company Profile

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.