Great Lakes Advisors LLC Buys Shares of 155,487 Heritage Financial Corporation $HFWA

Key Points

• Great Lakes Advisors LLC purchased 155,487 shares of Heritage Financial, valued at approximately $4.6 million, giving it a 0.38% stake. Institutional investors collectively own 78.3% of the company.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with three Buy and three Hold ratings, an overall “Moderate Buy” consensus, and an average price target of $32.50.
• Heritage Financial reported quarterly EPS of $0.57, beating estimates of $0.44, and raised its quarterly dividend to $0.25 per share, equivalent to a 3.5% annualized yield.

Great Lakes Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Heritage Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:HFWA - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 155,487 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $4,606,000. Great Lakes Advisors LLC owned 0.38% of Heritage Financial at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in 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 during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its stake in 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 worth $69,000 after acquiring an additional 1,431 shares during the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Heritage Financial during the second quarter worth $95,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Heritage Financial by 12.2% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 6,519 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $193,000 after acquiring an additional 710 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC raised its position in Heritage Financial by 7.7% in the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 8,249 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $195,000 after purchasing an additional 592 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.30% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on HFWA shares. DA Davidson upped their price target on Heritage Financial from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of Heritage Financial from $34.00 to $32.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 27th. Stephens upped their target price on shares of Heritage Financial from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Heritage Financial from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 16th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Heritage Financial from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $32.50.

Insider Transactions at Heritage Financial

In other Heritage Financial news, EVP Matthew T. Ray sold 3,692 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.10, for a total value of $111,129.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 22,735 shares of the company's stock, valued at $684,323.50. This trade represents a 13.97% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Donald Hinson sold 3,842 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.37, for a total transaction of $108,997.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 41,241 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,170,007.17. This represents a 8.52% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 24,546 shares of company stock valued at $729,057. 1.49% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Heritage Financial Price Performance

HFWA stock opened at $28.85 on Thursday. The business's fifty day moving average price is $29.51 and its 200 day moving average price is $27.77. Heritage Financial Corporation has a 12-month low of $21.32 and a 12-month high of $31.25. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The company has a market capitalization of $1.18 billion, a PE ratio of 13.74 and a beta of 0.50.

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

Heritage Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 19th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 5th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 5th. This is a positive change from Heritage Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.5%. Heritage Financial's payout ratio is 47.62%.

About Heritage Financial

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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