Versor Investments LP Acquires Shares of 38,000 Heritage Financial Corporation $HFWA

Key Points

• Versor Investments LP has purchased 38,000 shares of Heritage Financial Corporation, valued at approximately $925,000, increasing their stake to 0.11% of the company's total shares.
• Research analysts have downgraded Heritage Financial’s stock from a "hold" to a "sell" rating, with price objectives set between $26.00 and $31.00.
• Heritage Financial recently reported quarterly earnings of $0.53 per share, beating estimates, and announced a dividend of $0.24 per share, yielding 4.1% annually.

Versor Investments LP bought a new stake in shares of Heritage Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:HFWA - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 38,000 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $925,000. Versor Investments LP owned about 0.11% of Heritage Financial at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Heritage Financial by 794.1% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,064 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 945 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Heritage Financial by 45.3% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,972 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $72,000 after acquiring an additional 927 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Heritage Financial by 519.0% during the fourth quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 3,553 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $87,000 after acquiring an additional 2,979 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio raised its stake in shares of Heritage Financial by 475.6% during the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 3,989 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $98,000 after acquiring an additional 3,296 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC raised its stake in shares of Heritage Financial by 14.8% during the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,042 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $98,000 after acquiring an additional 520 shares in the last quarter. 78.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Heritage Financial Trading Up 5.8%

Shares of NASDAQ HFWA traded up $1.33 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $24.40. The stock had a trading volume of 235,154 shares, compared to its average volume of 158,671. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85. Heritage Financial Corporation has a 1 year low of $19.84 and a 1 year high of $27.58. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $23.84 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $23.60. The firm has a market cap of $828.45 million, a P/E ratio of 17.06 and a beta of 0.57.

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

Heritage Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 6th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 6th. Heritage Financial's payout ratio is presently 67.13%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HFWA has been the topic of several research reports. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of Heritage Financial from $34.00 to $31.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on shares of Heritage Financial from $27.00 to $26.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Heritage Financial from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $27.67.

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.