Heritage Financial Corporation $HFWA Shares Sold by AQR Capital Management LLC

Key Points

• AQR Capital Management LLC has reduced its holdings in Heritage Financial Corporation by 11.7%, now owning approximately 0.70% of the company, valued at $5.8 million.
• Heritage Financial reported earnings of $0.53 per share, exceeding estimates, with total revenue of $56.5 million for the last quarter.
• The company has a current dividend yield of 3.9%, having recently paid a quarterly dividend of $0.24 per share.

AQR Capital Management LLC decreased its position in shares of Heritage Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:HFWA - Free Report) by 11.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 238,210 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 31,549 shares during the quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC owned about 0.70% of Heritage Financial worth $5,796,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted 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 valued at $72,000 after acquiring an additional 927 shares during the period. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. boosted its holdings 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 valued at $87,000 after acquiring an additional 2,979 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio boosted its holdings 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 valued at $98,000 after acquiring an additional 3,296 shares during the period. CWM LLC boosted its holdings 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 valued at $98,000 after acquiring an additional 520 shares during the period. Finally, Zions Bancorporation National Association UT acquired a new position in shares of Heritage Financial during the first quarter valued at $167,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.30% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Heritage Financial from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report 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, Heritage Financial has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $27.67.

Heritage Financial Stock Performance

HFWA stock opened at $24.52 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $832.45 million, a P/E ratio of 17.15 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $24.10 and a 200 day simple moving average of $23.60. Heritage Financial Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $19.84 and a fifty-two week high of $27.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.53 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $56.50 million during 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%. Sell-side analysts predict that Heritage Financial Corporation will post 2.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Heritage Financial Announces Dividend

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

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.

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