Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA) Shares Sold by Two Sigma Investments LP

Two Sigma Investments LP trimmed its position in shares of Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA - Free Report) by 15.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 127,093 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 23,639 shares during the quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP owned approximately 0.37% of Heritage Financial worth $3,114,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Jennison Associates LLC increased its position in shares of Heritage Financial by 26.7% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,206,766 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $54,066,000 after purchasing an additional 465,708 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Heritage Financial by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,068,354 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $50,674,000 after buying an additional 33,429 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Heritage Financial by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,249,905 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $30,623,000 after buying an additional 8,731 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Heritage Financial by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 433,678 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $10,625,000 after buying an additional 6,201 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its stake in Heritage Financial by 12.1% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 433,296 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $10,616,000 after buying an additional 46,769 shares during the last quarter. 78.30% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Donald Hinson sold 3,420 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.59, for a total value of $80,677.80. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 42,087 shares of the company's stock, valued at $992,832.33. This represents a 7.52% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jeffrey J. Deuel sold 7,033 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The shares were 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 approximately $1,677,635.96. This trade represents a 9.02% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 11,311 shares of company stock valued at $267,473 in the last quarter. Insiders own 1.90% of the company's stock.

Heritage Financial Trading Down 1.7%

Shares of Heritage Financial stock traded down $0.40 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $22.98. The company's stock had a trading volume of 123,028 shares, compared to its average volume of 214,709. Heritage Financial Co. has a twelve month low of $16.55 and a twelve month high of $27.58. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $22.90 and a 200-day moving average of $24.14. The stock has a market cap of $783.76 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.53 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 (NASDAQ:HFWA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.03. Heritage Financial had a return on equity of 7.17% and a net margin of 13.64%. The business had revenue of $57.59 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $61.74 million. Research analysts forecast that Heritage Financial Co. will post 2.09 EPS for the current year.

Heritage Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 21st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 7th were paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 7th. Heritage Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.86%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on HFWA shares. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on 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 lowered their price objective on 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.

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.