Two Sigma Investments LP Decreases Stock Holdings in Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA)

Two Sigma Investments LP reduced its holdings in shares of Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA - Free Report) by 15.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 127,093 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 23,639 shares during the period. Two Sigma Investments LP owned about 0.37% of Heritage Financial worth $3,114,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Heritage Financial by 794.1% during the 4th 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. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Heritage Financial by 519.0% in the fourth quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 3,553 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $87,000 after purchasing an additional 2,979 shares during the period. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new position in Heritage Financial in the 4th quarter valued at $157,000. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in Heritage Financial during the fourth quarter worth about $166,000. Finally, Zions Bancorporation N.A. purchased a new position in shares of Heritage Financial during the 4th quarter worth approximately $168,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.30% of the company's stock.

Heritage Financial Price Performance

HFWA stock traded down $0.29 on Wednesday, reaching $23.10. The company had a trading volume of 18,209 shares, compared to its average volume of 213,769. The company's fifty day moving average is $22.92 and its 200 day moving average is $24.15. The company has a market cap of $787.68 million, a P/E ratio of 18.61 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.84. Heritage Financial Co. has a 1 year low of $16.55 and a 1 year high of $27.58.

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $57.59 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $61.74 million. Heritage Financial had a net margin of 13.64% and a return on equity of 7.17%. On average, research analysts forecast that Heritage Financial Co. will post 2.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Heritage Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 21st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 7th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 7th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.16%. Heritage Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.86%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Heritage Financial

In other news, CFO Donald Hinson sold 3,420 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.59, for a total transaction of $80,677.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 42,087 shares of the company's stock, valued at $992,832.33. The trade was a 7.52% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Jeffrey J. Deuel sold 7,033 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.66, for a total value of $166,400.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 70,906 shares in the company, valued at $1,677,635.96. This trade represents a 9.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 11,311 shares of company stock worth $267,473 in the last 90 days. 1.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of Heritage Financial from $34.00 to $31.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on Heritage Financial from $27.00 to $26.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 28th.

Heritage Financial 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.