Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Sells 210,832 Shares of Heritage Financial Corporation $HFWA

Key Points

• Goldman Sachs Group Inc. reduced its stake in Heritage Financial Corporation by 56.7% in the first quarter, now owning approximately 0.47% of the company valued at $3.92 million.
• Heritage Financial recently reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $0.53, exceeding estimates of $0.50, despite lower revenue than expected at $56.5 million.
• The company's dividend was recently set at $0.24 per share, which translates to an annual yield of 4.0% and a payout ratio of 67.13%.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Heritage Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:HFWA - Free Report) by 56.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 161,214 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 210,832 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. owned approximately 0.47% of Heritage Financial worth $3,922,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of HFWA. CWM LLC boosted its position in shares of Heritage Financial by 14.8% during the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in shares of Heritage Financial by 5.0% in the 1st quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 11,864 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $289,000 after buying an additional 567 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its position in Heritage Financial by 4.6% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 20,060 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $488,000 after acquiring an additional 881 shares during the period. Ieq Capital LLC grew its position in Heritage Financial by 8.3% in the first quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 12,115 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $295,000 after acquiring an additional 925 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Heritage Financial by 45.3% in 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.30% of the company's stock.

Heritage Financial Trading Up 3.9%

NASDAQ HFWA traded up $0.95 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $25.19. The company's stock had a trading volume of 158,778 shares, compared to its average volume of 169,771. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $24.02 and a 200 day moving average of $23.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $855.20 million, a P/E ratio of 17.62 and a beta of 0.56. Heritage Financial Corporation has a twelve month low of $19.84 and a twelve month 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 earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.03. Heritage Financial had a return on equity of 7.34% and a net margin of 15.22%.The company had revenue of $56.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $63.54 million. Equities research analysts forecast that Heritage Financial Corporation will post 2.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Heritage Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 6th were issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 6th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.8%. Heritage Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 67.13%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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 analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $27.67.

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.