Alliancebernstein L.P. Sells 114,191 Shares of Heritage Financial Corporation $HFWA

Key Points

• Alliancebernstein L.P. reduced its holdings in Heritage Financial Corporation by 7.6%, selling 114,191 shares and now owns 1,382,473 shares valued at approximately $33.6 million.
• Heritage Financial announced a quarterly dividend of $0.24 per share, resulting in an annualized dividend yield of 3.9%.
• Analysts have mixed ratings on Heritage Financial, with one research firm downgrading the stock from "hold" to "sell", while the consensus price target is $27.67.

Alliancebernstein L.P. lowered its holdings in Heritage Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:HFWA - Free Report) by 7.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,382,473 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 114,191 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned approximately 4.05% of Heritage Financial worth $33,636,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. CWM LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Heritage Financial by 14.8% in the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,042 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $98,000 after purchasing an additional 520 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Heritage Financial by 5.0% in the first quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 11,864 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $289,000 after purchasing an additional 567 shares in the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Heritage Financial by 8.3% during the first quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 12,115 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $295,000 after acquiring an additional 925 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings 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. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in shares of Heritage Financial by 6.8% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 29,901 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $733,000 after acquiring an additional 1,914 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.30% of the company's stock.

Heritage Financial Stock Down 1.5%

Shares of NASDAQ:HFWA traded down $0.37 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $24.52. 114,745 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 164,746. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85. The company has a market capitalization of $832.53 million, a PE ratio of 17.15 and a beta of 0.56. Heritage Financial Corporation has a 52-week low of $19.84 and a 52-week high of $27.58. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $24.10 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $23.60.

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA - Get Free Report) last posted 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. The firm had revenue of $56.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $63.54 million. Heritage Financial had a net margin of 15.22% and a return on equity of 7.34%. As a group, research analysts predict that Heritage Financial Corporation will post 2.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Heritage Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 6th. Heritage Financial's dividend payout ratio is presently 67.13%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Wall Street Zen lowered Heritage Financial from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, July 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target 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.